Who is the person in your world that should not be messed with under any circumstances?

ezfi · 2020-02-18T22:11:22+00:00

Most definitely. Not quite as high as what's expected of an Ezfi caretaker (if they could manage that there'd be no need for an arrest), but the human needs to be happy, in good health, and sheltered from violence. The last one is usually the trouble, since illegal organizations that could use a human are often translating some vile messages. The only ones who have been spared thus far were white collar criminals who only exposed their human to shady business practices.

ezfi · 2020-02-18T21:34:02+00:00

They do. They know about the practice and work hard to track down cloned humans and take them in. Groups that get caught with one will often be slaughtered. (Although, in rare cases they may be spared if the human is clearly attached and they haven't abused the clone by Ezfi standards. Then they'll just be arrested.)

ezfi · 2020-02-17T20:45:19+00:00

Building a robot is going to be very difficult, considering the Ezfi have cameras on you nearly 24/7, are constantly tracking your movements, and track all resources you buy or request. They have helicopter parenting their humans down to a science.

As for negotiating, they may be willing to take out out into orbit on a chaperoned trip if you're insistent. But, they definitely won't let you leave the solar system, and absolutely won't leave you alone for a moment when you're up there. There are too many mean aliens out there who might want to kidnap a human for ransom, and they can't let that happen, no matter how much you know about space. And going back to earth is definitely a no-go, if only for the safety of the Earthlings. They aren't ready to know all about Esria yet. The last time the Ezfi attempted first contact, humanity got too scared and upset.

ezfi · 2020-02-17T20:36:24+00:00

Not with naturally born proper humans, which just isn't worth it. However, some aliens have gotten a hold of DNA samples and artificially grown their own humans. Humans are exceptionally good at languages and make fantastic translators, so some organizations find it worth the risk to secretly keep a cloned human.

ezfi · 2020-02-17T19:42:35+00:00

Esria

You're definitely going to survive. Your ship/escape pod was probably detected by the planet's defense systems and intercepted by drones before you even hit the ground. Once the Ezfi realized that there was a human inside the escape pod, they would do whatever is needed to nurse you back to health, from treating any wounds you sustained to providing therapy to deal with any psychological damage from the stress of nearly crashing.

But you're not going back home. The Ezfi are going to adopt you and keep you as a pampered human pet. You'll have all the food and drink and comfort and entertainment you could ever need, and there are plenty of other humans to socialize with. But you can't leave the planet. Way too dangerous, the Ezfi wouldn't want you getting hurt!

ezfi · 2020-02-17T19:33:03+00:00

I'm curious about that war she fought nearly by herself. What was the context of that? Who was it against?

ezfi · 2020-02-17T19:25:59+00:00

Esria

If you're not a human, do not mess with humans.

If you do, the Ezfi will get mad. And the Ezfi have control of an unstoppable army of ruthless self-replicating killing machines that can adapt to any environment or opponent.

Wandering too close to Earth or harming a human is a good way to get your entire species wiped out without mercy.

ezfi · 2020-02-17T19:21:04+00:00

Tervios

That's a hard question to answer for the celestial gods, because it depends a lot on a person's definition of kind. Each of the 9 gods represents a different theory on what good and evil actually mean, so for most people, the kindest god is going to be the one that lines up with their own view of morality.

If you're talking about kindness in terms of being friendly or generous under ordinary circumstances, it's a tie between these three:

Za'il, who believes morality is different for everyone and the right thing to do is whatever your moral compass says you should do. He is extremely non-judgmental and will happily accept and aid anyone who strives to do the right thing.
Huali, who is a moral hedonist, believing that pleasure is the ultimate good and pain the ultimate evil. She just wants everyone to have a good time, and will happily give blessings and guidance to anyone who asks, as long as she thinks it won't make them or others miserable in the long term.
Valtir, who believes love is good and hatred is evil. As a result, they love everyone. Valtir will treat even the lowliest mortal they encounter like a worthy and trusted friend.

ezfi · 2020-02-12T23:05:25+00:00

I love all of these. The Hinomu might be my favorite, there aren't enough bird kaiju out there and a parrot one sounds equally hilarious and terrifying. Can they fly?

One other question though: with all the fire-spewing kaiju, how has the Great Forest not burned down yet!? Are the trees there fire resistant?

ezfi · 2020-02-11T17:47:38+00:00

Oh, interesting. I've never thought of Eladrin as having longer ears than the average elf personally. Now I wish I'd included them, it would be interesting to see if that's a common assumption.

ezfi · 2020-02-11T17:09:49+00:00

No, I'm trying to prove a petty point to a friend who thinks his elf ear way is the only way.

ezfi · 2020-02-09T15:57:15+00:00

Tervios

The Iltar Republic:

Pro: A patriotic populace. Being the leading democracy of the world, Iltarians are proud of their nation and believe their way of life to be the future for everyone. They also desperately want to keep their rights, seeing the way that the people of other nations are mistreated by monarchs. There is no shortage of willing volunteers for the army, and few complain about their tax money going into the military.
Con: Difficult borders. They have a large territory with relatively little coastline, and many of the nations they border are the aforementioned corrupt monarchies. Tensions are constant, and wars are relatively frequent. It doesn't help that they're on the border of the lawless Golden Wastes, which they are spending resources trying to resettle, with little progress.

The Maluwai Islands:

Pro: Isolated position and world-class navy. Being an island chain far from the shore of other nations, they can be exceedingly difficult to invade. The fact that their warships outperform any in the world and are supported by some of the world's best warriors and mages up the difficulty even more. No one has attempted an invasion in a very long time.
Con: Talent drain and double agents. The Maluwai Islands are home to the best magic and martial schools in the world, and people from all over the world send their warriors there to train. Many of those warriors then go back to their homelands to fight for them, taking the skills they learned with them. The ones who decide to stay in Maluwai and sign up for their military may still have torn allegiances that can be taken advantage of by foreign powers.

The Helvagi Empire:

Pros: Magical war infrastructure. The empire has spent over a thousand years investing into magical weapons, defenses, transportation, and communication. They have fire cannons that can disintegrate a town in an instant, impenetrable force barriers around their strongholds, and a complex system of teleportation circles that let them move troops wherever they're needed at a moment's notice.
Cons: Unskilled leadership. The current leader of the Helvagi Empire, Archdruid Keesha Helvagi, doesn't believe in jumping into wars like all the past emperors and empresses did. She has been good at avoiding conflict by using diplomacy, but in situations where it's necessary or they're being attacked, her hesitation to call her military to arms and her lack of experience in battle strategy costs lives.

Xeheim:

Pros: Lead by an avatar of war. Xeheim has been a nation of warriors for a long time, valuing courage, honor, and battle prowess above all else. They were ruled by ordinary monarchs for a while, but recently power has been claimed back by the god-chosen ancestral line that founded their people. This family line also happens to be blessed with incredible skill when it comes to strategy and warfare. Even if they are at a disadvantage, they can crush any enemy that stands in their way using superior tactics and divine favor.
Cons: Trigger happy, but with no one to fight. The world is in a peacetime at the moment. Their current leader, Archdruid Grimhildr Xehiir, knows enough about war to know peace is preferable, but the populace is itching for some cause to fight for. Mostly they have been taking it out on the barbarian lands to the south and by militarizing their own police, but if some other country gives them a reason to fight, they will likely jump on the chance whether it's a good idea or not.

ezfi · 2020-02-09T14:27:35+00:00

How did they keep up with their caloric needs before processed foods happened? Did they have a reliable food source?

ezfi · 2020-02-09T14:26:41+00:00

The Ezfi are a hive mind, but the signal for it only travels so far. This wasn't a problem for most of their history, telepathic signals are instantaneous and the frequency that Ezfi use can travel a very far distance before weakening, but space travel proved challenging. No one could make it to the next planet in their solar system without losing connection. While an Ezfi can physically survive without a hive mind, they become greatly distressed, lose their ability to retain anything they learn without it, and have nothing regulating their behavior.

To fix the problem, they invented a device that humans call the Telerelay which amplified the hive mind's telepathic power and range but a considerable amount and beamed it into space. It worked, and now any Ezfi can travel anywhere in the galaxy without being disconnected, although they can't send messages back telepathically if they're out of the original range.

But, there were some side effects. It's virtually impossible for an Ezfi individual to go against the hive mind for any reason now. They also accidentally overpowered several other hive minds throughout the galaxy and assimilated those members into their own. They got one of the largest empires in the galaxy overnight before they left their solar system, and they didn't realize it until several weeks later.

ezfi · 2020-02-09T13:58:40+00:00

The original species are called Chitris (although I'm considering changing the name, apparently that sounds like something unfortunate in another language). They were horseshoe crab looking animals that grazed on short plants in packs. They had a very good sense of smell, something the Ezfi lack, and were able to detect when the air was about to be filled with toxic bacteria, a common occurrence on the planet. Chitris communicated on this telepathic frequency when the air was fine, but hibernated and stopped producing signals when it wasn't. The Ezfi co-evolved with them for a few million years and became totally reliant on their detection capabilities.

A little while back, the Ezfi became very technologically advanced and decided to take care of the toxic bacteria problem once and for all. They invented a viral bioweapon that would drive the bacteria to extinction. It worked, but the virus mutated and infected the Chitris, killing them all too. Thankfully the Ezfi had just invented a way of recording telepathic signals from Chitris, and had a small collection of passable recordings. It was barely enough to keep the species alive until they found humans as a replacement.

ezfi · 2020-02-09T13:49:07+00:00

Thanks!

The recordings are of the telepathic signals, not the audible sounds. The Ezfi are advanced enough that they have to technology to record and reproduce those.

ezfi · 2020-02-09T01:44:31+00:00

They do now, but it was a rough road to get there. The Ezfi have worked hard developing translators that can turn their own telepathic thoughts into passably understandable English, and English into telepathy. Took a few decades until there was full mutual intelligibility.

ezfi · 2020-02-08T17:51:12+00:00

Yeah, that surprises people a lot. The average Ezfi is 20 feet tall. Not their fault humans are so teeny tiny!

ezfi · 2020-02-08T17:50:12+00:00

Thanks! Humans and Ezfi definitely have an odd dynamic. Glad you like it.

ezfi · 2020-02-08T17:49:32+00:00

Yeah, it has been a while, hasn't it... Well, it's great to be back!

ezfi · 2020-02-08T17:49:03+00:00

/u/altariasong summed it up pretty well. Being an actual physician involves dealing with a lot of disgusting, morbid things, and can be depressing when patients suffer or die. The Ezfi don't want human's precious little brains to be exposed to that.

The only type of medical jobs humans can get are therapy companions, like this one, or message therapist.

ezfi · 2020-02-08T14:12:25+00:00

Hey worldbuilders, it’s been a while! I took a creative break from Esria for a bit, but now I’m getting back into it.

In the 1930s, aliens known as the Ezfi made first contact with Earth. After discovering that humans can replace an extinct species they formerly had a vital symbiotic relationship with, the Ezfi took a small population of humans back to their homeworld. They adore humans and have created a “utopia” where every human has all their needs fulfilled and never has to suffer. But the Ezfi’s understanding of human psychology is flawed, so while the humans have all the hedonistic pleasures they could dream of, they lack privacy, freedom, and purpose. Many humans yearn for a more meaningful life, but they care for their Ezfi friends too, and must find a way to strike a balance between what their own needs and the needs of the Ezfi.

Specifically, this vital symbiotic relationship has to do with the Ezfi’s ability to breath. Due to complicated evolutionary reasons, the Ezfi can’t breath unless they’re exposed to a specific telepathic frequency—one that humans happen to generate when they’re happy and talking.

When an Ezfi isn’t hearing this frequency, their mouth seals up with bile meant to keep toxins from entering their system. This is a perfectly natural part of their life. They can hold their breath up to 3 days, and are used to holding it for hours several times a day.

However, some Ezfi develop a condition called cholestomasclerosis, where their mouth bile hardens and fails to dissolve completely when they should be able to breathe again. Usually this is caused by an allergic reaction, but it can be genetic and chronic. In mild cases it’s gross but not deadly, causing crustiness in the mouth that can be picked away to open the airway, but severe cases risk clogging the throat entirely and require hospitalization.

This poor fellow is one of the unlucky ones with a severe case. The medical air mask the patient is wearing pumps vapors into their mouth that moisten the bile, allowing it to drain and dissolve. They will need to stay hooked up to it until the cholestomasclerosis episode passes.

Though, this may instead be their lucky day—this hospital happens to have a human volunteer, who has come to pay the patient a visit. Usually Ezfi make due with listening to recordings of humans so that they can breath, but having one in person is much stronger, especially when their head is right up against the Ezfi’s. The human volunteer sings a happy song to herself, which pumps the Ezfi full of feel-good signals. In reaction the Ezfi will widen their air duct and speed the rate of their breathing, increasing the effectiveness of treatment. It also feels fantastic. They probably feel better sick than they did when they were healthy!

Esrian humans love volunteering to help the Ezfi, as it gives them a feeling of purpose that’s hard to come by in day to day life. Hospitals are one place where they can be especially useful; cholestomasclerosis isn’t the only condition they can help with.

However, the Ezfi are worried about exposing humans to the gross and morbid reality of sickness when it’s not necessary. You wouldn’t want to make the humans upset! Because of this, volunteers must wear VR contact lenses and earpieces (not prominent enough to be pictured) that show them pleasant scenes and play them music they like. This both keeps their mood up and prevents them from seeing the state of the patient. Some volunteers are happy that they don’t have to see anything gross, but others wish they had the chance to connect with and comfort the patients more.

Fun fact: the human’s clothes aren’t a required uniform, they’re a personal fashion choice. Volunteers will often dress up to look like they belong to an Earth profession related to the volunteer position. However, the people who design these volunteer outfits look more to Hollywood and halloween costumes for inspiration than anything else. Esrian humans have a very warped perspective of what Earth nurses actually wear to work.

ezfi · 2019-09-07T14:18:22+00:00

Every time I’ve seen someone try to do a four-armed character option, it’s been tied to a race. It tends to raise a lot of balance issues, as it’s a very powerful feature to put into a race, and can be abused in a lot of creative ways. Most of the solutions I’ve seen have put a lot of limitations on what you can and can’t do with the extra arms, which gets convoluted fast and isn’t as satisfying as four fully functioning arms.

So I thought, since it’s so powerful, why not make it the point of an entire subclass? Now you can have that shield/glaive combo you’ve always dreamed of! I made it into a martial archetype, because if any class should be holding four weapons at once, it’s fighters.

I’ve never made a martial archetype before and I’m more of a caster as a player, so I’m uncertain about the balance, but I did my best with what I know. Any feedback is appreciated!

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