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chill13 — Nikah'ti Reference sheet
Published: 2014-03-15 05:25:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 3010; Favourites: 64; Downloads: 24
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Yay!!!! I fianally have my Engineers! I can't tell you how many ideas I have discarded for these characters.The two male and female examples are Nik and Kit, two of Rover's crew members.
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Comments: 54
They were really fun to come up with. I really wanted to push their alien-ness.
Yes they do, on both counts.
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a question occurs to me: because the tail fills those functions, have the Nikah'ti been reluctant to make prosthetic tails? (for Nikah'ti who lost theirs from disease or accident, or for individuals who just want a prosthetic tail)
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fantastic! wonderful little aliens - and they're genuine aliens, not "rubber forehead" ones.
I love the level of detail and care you put into all the bits of their biology.
*applauds*
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Thank you so much!
Ah...yes. 'Rubber forehead' aliens. We all know them well. They multiply like bacteria! *human body+green hair= alien* Although, you must admit Star Trek was pretty awesome despite them.
These little guys were pretty fun to come up with.
*bows*
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Your species are seriously amazing.
These are so cute it hurts. <3
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Aww! Than you so much! It took me forever to come up with a species for these characters. My species are usually created character first and then I build the world around them. Not always the most effective method, but it works for me.
Nik and Kit are a mated pair of Nikah'ti and are essential crew members of a small trade ship.
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They are adorable. I love how your alien species aren't exactly humanoid, or super similar to Earth species - they're quite unique!
I tend to do the same thing with my characters, really; it is pretty rewarding.
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This was so fascinating to read!You've really brought these little guys
to life through your excellent reference sheet!
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Thanks! It was so much fun to design them. I really really need to do one of these for Dr. Cloud's species and the Mukkadross.
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You're welcome!
I would love to see references that gives information
concerning these species!
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Woah, all the details and deep thought you put into designing these guys! I really love the tails, especially, but the whole design is just top notch. As a biologist who loves unique alien species concepts, this is one of the best I've seen. I do wonder, why is their blood dark? What sort of biochemistry is going on, is their planet generally earth-like?
Also, what function is served by the kinks in the male whiskers? Does it allow them to hear a bit better than the females, and similarly, do the female auditory-enhancers help them to make louder mating calls? Or are the calls something more related to alerting to danger, as is seen in meerkats?
I love the cultural preference to betroth young based on matching feet color. Is that genetic, or does some other factor determine the pigmentation? It seems like they'd start to run into issues with in-breeding if it were solely a matter of genetics.
Really awesome and interesting, I love these guys.
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Thank you so very much! I really enjoyed making these guys. And especially thanks for taking the time to read it!!
Those are some very good questions!! I honestly don't know what makes their blood that color (one I'll have to think on...any suggestions from a biologist? 
Their planet is relatively earth-like but with rainforests taking up much of the land surface. This allows the forest-dwelling Nikah'ti to have both above and below ground warrens that span from deep under the surface to the tops of hollowed trees.
The directional enhancers for the female are for calling young. While both genders engage in child care now for a long time females were mostly relied upon to watch them. The directional enhancers are helpful to call in a large brood from the forest canopy. And as you said they are also quite good for warning calls. And since the Nikah'ti are such good mimics they are pretty adept as frightening of predators by making the sounds of even larger predators.
When a warren becomes too large several families will seperate off and search for a new place to live. The males are always the scouts. The kinks in their whiskers enhance their hearing and by pressing them into the ground and using a process similar to echolocation they can 'hear' the quality of the ground beneath them and find the best spot to dig their new home.
Colored feet...also a good question. Unlike humans who's hair and eye color are hand-me-downs from their parents, coloring is almost purely chance. Each Nikah'ti dna strand contains an almost infinate range of colors, which ones are dominant is pretty random. Marking shapes, however are quite genetic.
Thank you for your questions. Made me think of things I hadn't considered before! So much fun!!
I hope to have species sheets of all the species in Hi Ho Hyperdrive but as of yet I only have two...
The other one is here, if you're interested:
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When oxygen binds to the iron in our blood, the iron oxidizes (the same process that causes rust!) to be red. So if your aliens relied on copper rather than iron to bind up with oxygen, then the copper would oxidize to blue (at least, in the mostly-liquid medium of blood) and oxygenated blood would then appear blue, while de-oxygenated would appear a dark blue, almost black.
Thanks for the great answers! I'll take a look at your other guys.
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AAAHH! Awesome! That is perfect. Thank you for the help!!
Even though my stories are pretty humorous and light-hearted I would like my species to be at least somewhat plausible.
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Why don't I remember seeing this before?
Does this mean that we will see little Nikah'ti babies running around the ship at some point? 
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It's certainly not an impossibility
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Another amazing example of character design and backstory. You put so much thought into your races and characters, which makes them really come alive. It's fascinating to read this.
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Thanks so much! It took me forever to come up with a species for these guys. And I FINALLY have personalities for them as well, so with the last of the crew figured out theoretically I can start writing.
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Yeah, I can believe that it took long. But the time you put in it really paid off.
That's great! I just saw that you uploaded the first part. Gonna read that later on. ^^
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Read it now. ^^ I really liked it! Looking forward to the next part.
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This is cool. Are you going to do these for all the non-human species? Cause I'd like to see one for that mouthy prince's species.
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I will for the crew, at least. The Doc and Trigger and probably Nana (although she's pretty much a mystery to everyone). I'm not sure Tevish will need one since he's only in one story and most of his biology will be explained when it's needed.
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d'aww :3 such a cute species! Love the entire concept especially with the babies being in the female's tail.
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Thank you! Heh, tail babies probably would be pretty inconvnient for the female though. She couldn't move around much with all that weight behind her. She'd have to be pretty dependant on Daddy for awhile.
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Indeed 
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Thank you much! I kind was going for ferret/scorpion/moth.
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Wow, these guys are awesome! What really got me was their long orange-black tongues--Man, that's some tongue! o.o
And their tails, too! It's amazing the babies come out of their tails.
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Thanks so much! The specific color of their tongues came from garter snakes.
Yep. Quite useful, those tails!
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Sure thing!
Oh aye, very! ^.^
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They're so CUTE!!! This is really cool- I like their writing system.
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Thank you! Their writing started out simply as directional scratches, marking different tunnels and advanced from there.
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It definitely looks like it could be real, but very old, in a neat sort of way.
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Thanks! I had fun designing them!
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They're so cute and interesting! I want one!
Now I wonder what their religion is like.
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Thanks! Probably Earthy. Believing all natural things have a consciousness.
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BRILLIANT BRILLIANT BRILLIANT!!!!
I love that you gave them more alien-like characteristics, like the fact that their "ears" aren't really ears but instead SCENT organs, they pick up sonic vibrations through whiskers, and they obviously have completely different vocal abilities than us humans. It's very creative and original and I LOVES IT.
The bit about the wombs in the tail was pretty awesome too.
- Lastly: I STILL WANTS ONE. I WANTS ONE SO BAAAAADDDDD!!!!
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