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Will Wright's Spore => Spore: Creation Corner => Topic started by: BioCat on April 11, 2006, 05:58:20 am

Title: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 11, 2006, 05:58:20 am: The Urshan:

C.A.S:
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/SCC_devout.gif) (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/SCC_gentle.gif) (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/SCC_geoambler.gif) (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/SCC_brain3.gif) (http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/stage6_space.gif)(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h284/gec05/CAS%20Icon%20Gallery/archy_2.gif)

For organized full information about the Urshans:

http://spore.wikia.com/wiki/Content:Urshan

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/7/72/UrshanConcept.jpg)

Physical:

The Urshan are a sapient race from the planet Niho in the Hindo star system. In earthly terms they are more similar to mammals than any other animal family but still are different in many ways. They are covered with fur but has no noses for example.

Breathing and Eating: The Urshans like humans do eat from their mouth. They have many sharp but multi tasked teeth because they are omnivores. Their breathing system in not even connected to their feeding system. They breath from three small hatches in each side of their head. When they run or do any other hard physical activity they tend to open those hatches more.

The Brains: One thing that really sets apart the Urshans from most creatures is their double brains. Like other sentient creatures the Urshans have an upper great mind in their skull who they use to think, create believe and other highly mental abilities. Unlike us human, the more functional part of the brain which controls the movement metabolism and other physical processes is another brain, the lower brain. This brain exists in many of the life forms in Niho. This division of brains creates an inner clash between the thinking and the primitive instincts, something that will affect their culture religion and about anything else as well.

Size: On four legs: 1.6 meters from the back to the head. (They can walk on 2 legs as well).

Diet: Omnivores, Mostly herbivores though. The ancestors of the Urshans were carnivores but they tend to eat plants more then meat.

Reproduction: True viviparity (Born without eggs). Males reach sexual maturity at the age of 14. Females reach sexual maturity at the age of 16. The female is pregnant for 8 month, the offspring return to their mother's womb for 4 month after they are born (would be explained with more details in the future). Every time exactly 3 baby Urshans are born but in rare situation 3 pares of twins are born.

Graspers: 5 fingers and 1 thumb in each hand and feet. A total of 24 fingers. The fingers can barely move and has little part in the grasping action. The thumbs are much more powerful and can grasp alone weapons tools and etc. The fingers in the frontal and back legs are the same in every way.

Lifespan: 55 Natural (Modern = 130).

Natural Social Activity: Herds of 15 Urshans. Hierarchy, a few males are hunters, most females are guardians of the cubs and all others just eat and bring vegetarian food.

Geography:

The Hindo Star System:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/6/62/HindoSystem.JPG/728px-HindoSystem.JPG)

The picture is out of scale.

Like the solar system the Hindo system is called after it's sun, "Hindo".
There are six planets in the Hindo system, this is a list from the nearest to the most far from the sun: Kando, Jano, Niho, Cynar, Kinto, Pashora.
There is a total of 11 moons in the star system.

Hindo: (Sight Bringer)
Size: 123 times bigger then Niho.
Geology: Much like our sun. Contains mostly hydrogen. The power source of all the star system.

Kando: (Red Disk)
Size: 2.5 times bigger then Niho.
Geology: An extremely radiated planet containing mostly uranium and other metals. Great volcanic activity and acid rains. The surface of the planet is mostly lava seas and rocky.
Moons: 1) Jan: 0.3 times bigger then Niho. Much like Kando it is very volcanic and a little radiated as well. Contains mostly the same materials.

Jano: (Common Disk)
Size: 0.9 Times bigger then Niho.
Geology: Altough a little closer to the sun it's cooler inner hit and because of different angles Jano is a slightly cooler and therefore has an icy surface. It seems that under it there is a huge sea with very little islands (5%). The planet contains mostly water (H20) and under it silicon and metals. It is said that it once contained life.

Niho: (Central Ground)
Size: 0.9 times smaller then Earth.
Geology: The perfect atmosphere for water to be liquid. It contains 75% water and 25% ground. It contains mostly silicon and a little metals oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. From icy planes to rain forest and deserts Niho has it all.
Moons: 1) Katan: 0.08 times bigger then Niho. The moon closest to Niho. It is a rocky planet covered with a very think layer of ice.
2) Afar: 0.2 times bigger then Niho. A rocky planet with no volcanic activity.

Cynar: (Ring One)
Size: 5.4 times bigger then Niho.
Geology: A gas giant surrounded by gasses and asteroids ring.
Moons: 1) Cyto: 0.3 Times bigger then Niho. A rocky moon with no volcanic activity. Also contains metals. 2) Cyma 0.02 times bigger the Niho. It is said it is in fact Cyma's moon but this is not yet discovered. A tiny rocky moon.

Kinto: (The Great Rare).
Size: 11.2 Times bigger then Niho.
Geology: A huge gas giant and heavy.
Moons: 1)Doo: 0.4 times bigger then Niho. A rocky moon covered with a thick icy layer. 2) Darash: 0.3 times bigger then Niho. Although a rocky planet it has an atmosphere of nitrogen. It also has a powerful magnetic field. 3) Pach: 0.8 times bigger then Niho. Contains mostly metals.

Pashora: (The Small Rare)
Size: 0.3 times bigger then Niho.
Geology: A rocky lonely planet. Some believe it is actually a big asteroid.

To be added: Grasping, The Two Brains, Numbers, Language, Skeleton, Religion, Reproduction.

I would be more than happy to hear what you guys think :).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on April 11, 2006, 06:18:07 am: Nice concept. I like the "moon-of-a-moon" around Cynar.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Notorious B.O.B on April 11, 2006, 11:10:26 am: Double brains are COOL!!!

And I must say that that Urshan is a pretty cute teddy bear (hope you were planning on that.) Are they more peaceful or violent race?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 11, 2006, 11:17:12 am: They are not teddy bears! Well I do admit they're cute in a certain way ;).

Anyway they have an aggressive nature but will be quite peaceful in their modern age.

I will tell more about it when I will write about the brains conflict and the Urshan races.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 12, 2006, 03:37:20 am: Niho World Map:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/c/c2/Niho.JPG)

Niho's size is 0.93% from earth, making it a little bit lower gravity and slightly smaller.
It contains 25% ground and 75% water. There are 4 main continents in Niho: Sian, Karir, Sorer and Pretak.
Like here on earth there was once a single great continent who divided into 4 continents.
Sian is the largest one. It is so large that it is divided to eastern and western Sian. The southern eastern side is filled with rain forest and regular forests.
The northern eastern side is mostly planes. The western side is much cooler due to atmospheric changes and is much more mountain full.
Sorer is very much like Sian just smaller and cooler.
Karir is like our Antarctica, it is a solid ground continent covered with ice (not like the two polls which are ice made only).
Pretak, the last continent is the smallest and is very cold wild and forest filled.

The Eastern Sian continent would be the home for the greatest civilized empire in the world.
The Urshans living there (called Sian Urshans) are slightly smaller and less aggressive.
Sorer and the northern islands would be the home for the Sorer Urshans, a great civilization with a beautiful yet barbaric in a way culture who
would be doomed to meet the Sians in the future. Karir is too cold for most living creatures but would be colonized in the future.
Pretak would naturally have no Urshans in it but will contain many secrets about the Urshan's evolution.

More to come: Skeleton, The Two Brains, Grasping Thumb, Religion, Numbers...

Always happy for some comments
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on April 12, 2006, 04:25:57 am: Cool. That's a good map, especially so considering it's MsPaint. :) If you want a clearer picture, try saving it as a gif(Might reduce the colours though, MsPaint isn't the best to do that)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on April 13, 2006, 10:08:25 am: Ver, Very nice. *Claps*
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 16, 2006, 01:33:16 am: Thank you every one :).

The Neural System (The double brain):

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/e/e8/Brainy.jpg/633px-Brainy.jpg)

As a neural system developed in planet Niho a big center of neural processors has developed in the back of the neck.
As the creatures got more evolved this center grew into the head and now got called "The lower brain" or in Urshan
Language "Kia". The Furred family (which includes the Urshan) was the first to also develop another equally big brain
called "The upper brain" or in Urshan language: "Sharo" (In some other families the Sharo existed but it was smaller then the Kia).
The Sharo had a different and improved level of process and unlike the primitive Kia it gave more options and a sense of freedom
to its owner. Also it is known that the key to intelligence lies in the Sharo. The Sharo is where the language is kept,
the social abilities and the use of tools. The Urshan has the biggest Sharo comparing to Kia (3.5 times bigger).
This fact infects its mental and social abilities, its culture and most of all its religion. "The Rise",
one of the most popular Eastern Urshan religions is all about the control of the Sharo on the Kia and the fight between
the mental abilities and the primitive instincts.

Next to come: Skeleton, Grasping, Religion, Numbers...

Always happy for some comments

Edit: Changed the picture finally, much better now I think. I hope it is clearer now as well.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 18, 2006, 03:45:47 am: Was it that ugly? No responses.

Oh well, NOW I present to you the skeleton! Seeing the brains now would be much easier.

The Skeleton:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/a/a7/Skeleton.jpg/770px-Skeleton.jpg)
The Urshan skeleton is a complex system of bones creating some sort of shield around the important internal parts and supports the moving organs.

The lower part of the skull is in fact made from 4 bones only, the lower jaw, the upper jaw and two small bones which put the jaws in place .In those bones on each side there are 3 small hatches which are used for breathing. There are two eye holes in the skull, containing the oval black Urshan eyes. The upper part of the skull is a "box" defending the Sharo (Upper Brain). It is the highest point in the Urshan body when standing on 4 or 2 legs. On its neck there is another small "box" containing the Kia (Lower Brain).

The neck is connected to the Shoulder \ Chest bone, the main defender of the Urshan's inner body parts. The two front legs are connected to it.

Also the spine is connected to the shoulder bone. The Urshan's spine is very long hard and flexible allowing it to easily walk on 2 or 4 legs. To it the Ribs cage is connected with a total of 14 ribs. The spine is connected to the Hip bone (Also very powerful and flexible) which is connected to the back two legs.

All four legs are exactly the same is any way. They can grasp, move and carry the Urshan even without the help of the other pair. Each leg is built from the Thigh Bone two Calf bone and the feet. The feet are built from the back Heel Bone and the 6 fingers. 5 of those fingers are very long but with little motor abilities and a bit smaller thumb with great flexibility, movement and grasping capabilities.

Coming soon: Grasping, Religion, Numbers, Language, Race... (Always happy to hear what you guys think).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on April 18, 2006, 03:52:29 am: Very nice skeleton. The brain drawing was a bit cheap, but it worked and I got the picture. Keep it up!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 18, 2006, 09:07:54 am: Thanks, I tried making it as clear as I could. I think I'll try making a better version of the Sharo and Kia picture.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: luke on April 18, 2006, 09:22:46 am: Pokemonve no idea why but that guy reminds me of pokemon dodon'tnow why though meh loll he's cool looks like a tiger bear
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on April 18, 2006, 11:27:15 am: Nice creature- the religion sounds interresting, can't wait for you to expand on it!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 19, 2006, 05:18:15 pm: Well I know I didn't tell you guys yet about the Urshan religions or "The Eastren Empire" and other governments but I am happy to say the Urshans joined the alliance

(With no name yet) hoping to share the knowledge and prospective on our universe.

Heads of Education is an honorable title, taking care of knowledge transports and huge galactic libraries while sharing this information to all intelligent beings.

Hoping to learn more about other creatures brains and etc.

http://www.gamingsteve.com/blab/index.php?topic=3715.0
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 21, 2006, 03:18:29 am: News:
First of all I would like to let you know I finally fixed my Neural System Picture (Explaining where the Sharo and Kia are). I guess laziness can some times hurt :). You can still see the old one in planet spore and see the difference. Enjoy.

And now for new stuff, sorry for sticking to the physical aspects again, I just fill I need to first explain the Urshan completely so you would understand more about it's basic view on the world. And also to show you the differences from the Urshan to the normal earthly creature.

The Senses:
Like us human the Urshan have 5 main senses:

Sight: Like us human the Urshans have two eyes. Unlike human eyes the Urshan eyes are oval and have no pupils. It is totally black helping it to absorb more light. Because their ancestors were carnivores and therefore predators the Urshan can see small detail in far away places. Also the Urshan sight spectrum is a little different then the human one. The Urshans can not see the very red colors but can see the ultra violet ones. In earthly sights they are much closer to bees. They see from about 650 nm to 100 nm unlike humans who see from about 750 – 350.

Taste: The function and cause of the taste sense is to identify what you eat. The Urshan's taste system is very much alike the human one but one fact: the Urshans also have a lot of taste glands in their throat. They also have a small muscle near the end of their throat that can push the food back very powerfully making the Urshans Spit \ vomit their food. This is a common and accepted thing in their society.

Hearing: Identical to humans.

Touch: Identical to humans.

Smell: The Urshan don't have noses, they breathe from the six hatches in the sides of their faces. Therefore they do not "smell" as we call it. But the Urshans can feel some chemical processes like our nose does by another organ, their eyes. Above their eyes there are million of microscopic glands who release to the air every all the time small particles which bond with certain materials (according to their chemical function) and change their colors and as a result the Urshans see tiny spots of colors. To focus their sight on more important things these particles are not even seen by the Urshan himself. As the information comes to the Sharo (upper brain) it analyzes the meaning of this smell and send to different messages to the Kia, one of sight without particles and one of "smell" sense of what material are in front of the Urshan. Great priests of the Rise claim to be able to even see those particles.

Also I bring to you the Urshan Voice:

http://spore-planet.rpgs.sytes.net/Gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3165

(The Urshan is saying the Rise religion's main prayer: "May I rise to the highest mind")

More to come: Grasping, Numbers, Religion, Culture!(Agriculture, The Eastern Empire….)….
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 21, 2006, 03:23:52 am: I like the voice. Its funny cause i was just about to do another Naucean sound thing. Freaky!!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 21, 2006, 02:22:22 pm: The Urshans has a sporewiki page (all thanks goes to mason11987)

Check it out:

http://www.sporewiki.com/Urshan_%28Concept%29
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 23, 2006, 03:14:51 pm: Urshan Numbers:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/6/67/Numbers.JPG)

This is the Urshan's numeric system. Unlike us human who work on a base of 10 (0-9) the Urshan's number are 1-12. In fact 0 was invented much later in history. Like in the roman numbers the 0 has no roll in the names of any other numbers. The origin of the 12 numbers is the fact that each Urshan has 5 frontal fingers and 1 thumb in each hand, a total of 12. The very ancient signs for each number have the same reason, each represent another finger.
Although there are 12 signs they in fact use it as though it was a 6 based system. For example although after 12 1,1 (13) will come after 18 (1,6), will come 7,7 (19).and after 24 (7,12), will come 2,1 (25), and so on.

Can't wait to upload what I wrote about the religions and the empire but I fear I have lots of exams so I will try my best to find the time for it.

Next to come: Grasping Hand, Language, Religion, The Eastern Empire, The Urshan Sub-Races and more...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 23, 2006, 03:27:51 pm: Oo Base 12! Very cool and makes sense :) That's why Nauceans have base 8 because they have 8 fingers on their 2 main oral tentacles. Great job on this!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 23, 2006, 03:29:42 pm: Yep (and why humans have base 10 :))

But its more like a based 6. All the numbers are only used half of the "normal" times.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on April 23, 2006, 03:30:47 pm: hah if i ever did torpalian numbers they'd have base 16 :o :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 23, 2006, 03:34:11 pm: Quote from: operaghost21 on April 23, 2006, 03:30:47 pm
hah if i ever did torpalian numbers they'd have base 16 :o :D

Yeah 4 hands with 4 fingers each , man you have alot of fingers! You could wear alot of rings :P
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 24, 2006, 08:56:24 am: The Halcyon Corporation would like to announce the Urshans has joined its ranks.

Although a minor force of resistance is still fighting us this won't last for long.

Don't ask any more questions about it.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 26, 2006, 09:52:17 am: Influenced from Daxx's idea I bring you the Urshan war ships (Hopefully in the future I will bring pictures of them as well):

Overall: The Urshans usually do not carry many ground troops transports. They usually try to destroy their enemies with long range cannons and beams. In planetry battles they usually use a small amount of Hugh transport ships such as "titans".

Now pictures added, drown by huggkruka. Thanks again man!

Urshan Frigate:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/b/bd/Urshan_frigate.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 1 frontal fusion cannon
Crew: 35
Secondary Weaponry:2 Nulcear missiles shafts, 4 laser cannons.
Defensive Loadout: Caarnth Energy Shielding, Ablative Armour, Structural Integrity Field, Primitive Jamming and ECM Systems, Primitive Chaff/Flare/Sparkler Decoys. Urshan Cloaking Device.
Power Systems: Nuclear Power Generators, Central Fusion Reactor
Engines: Plasma-Impulse Sublight Engines, Hyperdrive
Information: A primitive small ship mostly useful in great amount.

Urshan Destroyer

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/7/71/Urshan_destroyer.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 4 Frontal Fusion Cannons, 2 Side Fusion Cannons.
Crew: 80
Secondary Weaponry: 4 Nuclear Missiles shafts, Anti-Matter Bombs.
Defensive Loadout: Caarnth Energy Shielding, Ablative Armour, Structural Integrity Field, Primitive Jamming and ECM Systems, Primitive Chaff/Flare/Sparkler Decoys. Advanced Shield Capacitors. Urshan Clacking Device.
Power Systems: Nuclear Power Generators, Central Fusion Reactor
Engines: Plasma-Impulse Sublight Engines, Hyperdrive
Information: A primitive medium ship. Very fast and deadly.

Urshan Cruiser

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/1/17/Urshan_cruiser.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 4 Frontal Fusion cannons, 4 Side Fusion Cannons, 12 Anti-Matter Torpedoes Shafts.
Crew: 200
Secondary Weaponry: 6 Nuclear Missile Shafts. Point Defense Laser Cannons.
Defensive Loadout: Caarnth Energy Shielding, Ablative Armour, Structural Integrity Field, Extensive Jamming and ECM Systems, Chaff/Flare/Sparkler Decoys. Urshan Cloaking Device. Advanced Shield Capacitors.
Power Systems: Nuclear Power Generators, Central Fusion Reactor
Engines: Plasma-Impulse Sublight Engines, Hyperdrive
Information: A modern large ship, mostly uses missiles and torpedoes therefore slower.

Urshan BattleShip

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/5/58/Urshan_battleship.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 16 Frontal Fusion cannons, 8 Side Fusion Cannons, 8 Back Fusion Cannons 8 Anti-Matter Torpedoes Shafts.
Crew: 360
Secondary Weaponry: 8 Nuclear Missile Shafts. Point Defense Laser Cannons, Anti-Matter Bombs.
Defensive Loadout: Caarnth Energy Shielding, Ablative Armour, Structural Integrity Field, Extensive Jamming and ECM Systems, Chaff/Flare/Sparkler Decoys.Areal Urshan Cloaking Device. Advanced Shield Capacitors.
Power Systems: Nuclear Power Generators, Central Fusion Reactor
Engines: Plasma-Impulse Sublight Engines, Hyperdrive
A huge modern deadly ship, uses mostly fusion, very fast. Contains Areal cloaking Urshan device allowing it to aid close ally ships.

Urshan Titan

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/a/a5/Urshan_titan.jpg)

Complement: 35 fighter-sized craft (Configurable to anti-ship, interceptor or ground attack specifications)
Crew: 700
Secondary Weaponry: Point Defense Lasers. Point Denfence Fusion Beams.
Defensive Loadout: Caarnth Energy Shielding, Ablative Armour, Structural Integrity Field, Extensive Jamming and ECM Systems, Chaff/Flare/Sparkler Decoys. Urshan Cloaking Device. Advanced Shield Capacitors.
Power Systems: Nuclear Power Generators, Central Fusion Reactor
Engines: Plasma-Impulse Sublight Engines, Hyperdrive
Information: A huge ground combat transport ship.

Scale:
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/5/52/Urshan-scales.jpg)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: werechicken on April 26, 2006, 10:04:02 am: hmm interesting, maybe I should do something similar
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 27, 2006, 12:37:36 pm: Hi all.

I know this is not very relevant to the Halycon and LAH stories right now but the Urshan's past is as important as their future and therefore I bring this to you (Again before religion :(, wish I had more time to paint those priests...)

Language:
Although more then one language developed over the Urshan history this language was the one to survive the test of time and to become the most common one as well as the official Empire language.
Here's the letters:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/a/ae/Letters.JPG)

This is all the letters in the Urshan language. There are 19 letters overall. The sounds L and R are the same in the Urshan speak.

Instead of the letters A,U,I,O,E a sign is added to each word who gives it it's tone. For example Sharo would be written as "(Sh)(R), one signed with A and the other with O. Here are examples:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/0/00/Vauels.JPG)

The word Urshan:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/9/91/Urshan_writen.JPG)

Niaru Shanta written:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/5/54/Niaru_Shanta.JPG)

I would like to thank English, Hebrew, Arab, Japanese, and Latin. And most of all my imagination ;)

Soon to come: Religion, Grasping, The Empire, Niaru Shanta, Space ships pictures and more...

(would be happy to hear what you guys think)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Krakow Sam on April 27, 2006, 12:43:11 pm: Hurry up with grasping. It must be something weird and cool if youre putting it off for so long
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 27, 2006, 01:11:44 pm: Also: New pictures drawn for the space ships. Drawn by the skilled huggkruka , thanks again man!

Enjoy.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Krakow Sam on April 27, 2006, 02:36:46 pm: Wow, cool ships. Good job Huggkruka! :o
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 27, 2006, 10:44:02 pm: Hugg did a great job! My only nitpicking on it is it looks like what kind of ship a Kazea would have. LOL I guess its just Hugg's style. Grat job as always though!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on April 28, 2006, 10:49:13 am: We all await Niaru Shanta's biography! No.1 Fan!

...I'll have to chaage my signature now that is is clear that he is alive.....
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 28, 2006, 10:53:50 am: Quote
We all await Niaru Shanta's biography! No.1 Fan!

...I'll have to chaage my signature now that is is clear that he is alive.....

Yeah, working on it. just to get the pictures done...

I was wondering why the R.I.P stayed so long ;)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on April 28, 2006, 11:22:04 am: It's because im lazy, and Hey, The Guy Could have died. He was in a coma.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 29, 2006, 03:01:40 am: Quote
Hurry up with grasping. It must be something weird and cool if youre putting it off for so long

It's not that special, just pretty diffrent from the human way.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 29, 2006, 03:51:28 pm: Time line
Because eventually the ruling culture would be the eastern empire (who would develop to become the Urshan Empire) the Eastern Time line is the one that survived. BE is before the Empire and AE is After the Empire.

This is a very general time line that would be probably updated and fixed in the future. It was only made to show the time scales and major events in the Urshan history. Some of that might not make sense to you because you have no idea what I am taking about (on the subjects that I didn't write about yet) but in the future all would be understood (also feel free to ask)

(Man that got way!!! Too long…)

More generally:
170,000-15,000 – Pre-civilized age
15,000 – 4,000 – Gathering Age
4,000 – 1 – The Farming Age
1 – 535 – The First Imperial Age.
535 – 663 The new Empire Age
6633- 1100 The First Discovery Age
1100-1190 – The Cities Age
1190 – 1460 – The age of Horrors
1460 – 1730 – The Second Discovery Age
1730 – 1850 The industrial militaristic age
1850 – 2030 The industrial peaceful age
2030 – 2270 The Colonial Age
2250 – 2800 The Early Space Age
2800 – 3100 The advanced Space Age
3100 (Present) The Space Empire Age.

4.2 Billion BE = Life first appear on Niho
170,000 BE = The Urshan race is born
100,000 BE = A great ice age connects all continents and the Urshan race which was born in Sorer starts moving to Sian which is warmer
30,000 BE = Greater tool use, fishing, fire, and basic language were invented and used. Very primitive religion is starting to form.
15,000 BE = Food gathering communities has developed, the balancers religion was invented (the fact that the religion was so old was only discovered in the future when cave painting of the balance were found).
10,000 BE = Urshans are moving to bigger communities and tribes in order to defend each other, the Urshans now live from the west of Sorer to the east of Sian.
4,000 BE = The Urshans start a very primitive form of farming and domesticating animals. Also the mining and smelting of copper is discovered, all mostly in the east.
1,500 BE = The "barbarians" of the north and the west start raiding the eastern cultures. Therefore the great need brings to the discovery of iron and bronze.
500 BE = Writing is invented, the eastern language is invented.
200 BE = A great hatred between the Urshans of Sian and the Urshans of the west begins. Although there are no real nations on both sides the northern tribes tend work together in times of wars with the east. In the east a tribe called Nihonar (Children of Niho) starts growing and adding other tribes to its lines.
100 BE = The Rise religion (in the future the main religion) is formed.
1 AE = The Nihonar tribe because the first nation called "The Eastern Empire" or Nihokorna (masters of Niho). The empire mainly rules the eastern parts of Sian and masters the skills of agriculture of Nuka, wheat like plant.
50 AE = The empire's official religion becomes the Rise. Money is invented
150 AE = The temple of the greatest mind is formed, a true wonder of the world.
352 AE = The great attack from the west. Most west northern Urshan tribes unite under the northern king "Tuuo Ja" and fight in the name of the balance (religion).
381 AE = The empire is nearly destroyed but in the end the "barbarians" are send back to their homes and the empire is saved.
450 AE = After the war the empire begins sending soldiers to the western Sian to prevent other attacks. Therefore the area is colonized.
520 AE = A new political group that believes in freedom and anarchy rises and starts terrorizing the empire. The group's main targets are the new colonies in the west.
535 AE = The group gains control of Western Sian and calls itself the new empire. War immediately begins between the empires.
570 AE = The new empire using the help of western mercenaries seems to be winning the war by taking more and more territories in the middle Sian. The crushing battle in the "Zoher" (Shinning) Desert is won by the new empire who is threatening to destroy the old one.
590 AE = The new empires forces are blocked in eastern Sian and the war turns into a cold war.
640 AE = without new areas to conquer the new empire is weakening and in the end losing all their relations with the west leading to war. The western tribes again work together in order to destroy their opponents.
663 AE = The new empire falls under the blades of the "barbarians". The old empire makes a peace treaty with the barbarian and the barbarians leave the middle and eastern Sian.
~700 AE = Sea navigation, The compass, new music instruments, and the Drama are invented. Also the disc theory in astronomy is invented.
~800 AE = Literature and the Calendar are invented.
~900 AE = While the western tribes keep fighting each other the empire grows and becomes more powerful also inventing great forms of construction, siege weapons, inventing math and developing philosophy.
920 AE = A new warmonger emperor called "Kuno Koor the Great" rises and in the name of the empire starts attacking the local tribes until gaining control over all Sian. After his death the great "Statue of Conquest is built in the last town he conquered on Sian, a 30 meters tall statue made of bronze of him aiming his sword to the Sorer continent.
950 AE = Crop rotation is invented, the Nuka fields of the empire allows it to grow in population and the average life time of 30 in the past rises to 60. The emperors mostly live about 100 years.
1100 AE = The small villages of agriculture who were once 98% of the population are now only 80% after many great cities are built using new and improved construction technology.
1160 AE = Banks are invented, many Urshans becomes merchants although the Rise religion sees merchants as the lowest people without any "Sharo" thinking. Many more Urshans move to the cities.
1190 AE = The Icy plague is spread due to the lack of proper conditions in the huge cities. The disease attacks the nerve system and paralyzes the Sharo, mostly in the beginning people don't feel weaker but starts forgetting things and getting sleepy. After a few days they become very clueless and after a few more days they die.
1330 AE = The plague end due to the inventions of sewers and hygiene awareness. More is learned about disease and primitive hospitals are invented.
1350 AE = A new warmonger emperor rises building a huge army of trained warriors and siege weapons and starting the idea of much more organized armies and division to squads and legions. With his new army he sets to the northern islands and conquers them.
1370 AE = Most of the northern islands are conquered and the locals are becoming the empire's slaves.
1377 AE = The emperor dies in a battle against Northern pirates and his son takes over his army.
1390 AE = After many years of fighting the new emperors conquers the frosty islands only to die from hearth failure a year later.
The empire suffers from a great economical problem. The Nuka fields don't give enough food and many die from hunger.
1460 AE = The empire almost collapses but the imperial scientist research much about farming and invent natural selection of better breeds and new farming tools saving the empire from the economical and agriculture problems.
~1500 AE =Since the success of the empire's scientists in finding solution to the food problems science becomes a popular thing. Basic chemistry and
Biology is invented, mainly for farming. The first university is created, education becomes much more common and instead of only learning about the subject you will work in as an adult all Urshans are being taught math, chemistry biology history and more.
1560 AE = The great monument for knowledge, "The great Library of the Sharo" is built, a true wonder of the world.
~1600 AE = The basics of laws of genetics, evolution geology and ecology are discovered. Although all Urshans know they as well developed by evolution there in no proof because of a lack of an Urshan ancestor.
1690 AE = First ships are sent to discover Karir there they meet the natives and turn them into their slaves. Until now the slaves' population in the Eastern Empire is 10% including northern islands slaves and Karir slaves.
~1700 AE = Great military inventions. Gun powder, titanium smelting, steel making, explosives and steam power (therefore trains). Although the Empire is environmental friendly they establish many factories in the cities, mostly containing slave workers.
1730 AE = The great revolution is in need of more materials and more slaves and in the name of the economy the emperor sends his new and improved army to conquer Sorer. At first this doesn’t seem like a problem. The new and advanced soldiers slay the tribal armies without any problem and enslave all the population.
1750 AE = The war is getting problematic, sending so many soldiers across sea costs a lot and the natives are learning how to use gun powder and defend themselves.
1805 AE = The emperor dies and the struggle continues. Although the empire's forces are winning the war is taking ages and many innocents dies. The Rise religion calls the empire to stop saying the barbarians are Urshans as well and too have Kia and Sharo but more slaves are needed.
1830 AE = After years of battles the Sorer continent is captured. The natives are tortured, ignored enslaved and killed. Many of the natives abandon the Balance and move to the Rise who talks about equality. A few small tribes who helped the empire are spread.
1850 AE = After the emperor dies the new emperor is a peaceful one. He helps the small Sorer countries to survive and even helps them build defenses and an army and establish a well based economy.
1860 AE = The new law of the free allows each slave to become a free man only to move to Sorer. This affects the Empire's economy that starts searching for new workers. The conditions of work become more normal and many empire citizens become workers.
~1900 AE = All great sorer countries unite under the "alliance of the west". The pollution stops and the military loses from its power. More scientist start researching space and learning much about it.
1940 AE = The first ship sails around the Niho, Niho is round! Pretak continent is discovered and there the proof for Urshan's evolutionary is found. A creature called Niashan is very similar to the Urshan and is a carnivore (although Urshans tend to eat more vegetables).
1980 AE = Both the western alliance and the empire send colonists to Pretak.
2000 AE = to celebrate 2000 years of the empire the "Ever-Lasting Emperor" statue is built. An 80 meters steel statue of the first emperor holding a Nuka plant in one hand and a Sharo on the other looking into the skies.
2030 AE = Many Urshan move to Pretak. Now not only scientist and miners.
~2100 AE = Electricity is invented, Radio is invented. The air plane is invented. Polymers are invented. Bio-Engineering is invented and commonly used. Pretak becomes a non-national area in order not to upset other countries.
2140 AE = Another world wonder is built, The New world Economy building. A huge building shaped as a sphere. A great place for merchants in pretak to meet.
2160 AE = Another world wonder is built, The University of the New World. A huge building where scientist from all around the world gather. Physics because a respected science thanks to it and Laser is invented.
2190 AE = Pretak because a new country called Neo-Power. The empire and the weak western alliance are not pleased.
2200 AE = The supreme religion is invented, Computers are invented, Tanks are invented , Fusion is invented and Neo-Power creates the first atomic bomb.
2240 AE = There is great tension between the nations of the world. When negotiation about war-fare technologies fail the empire starts a war against Neo-Power with the western alliance as an ally. Using their atomic bombs Neo-Power destroys many of the Empire's cities and the imperial army strike and conquers all northern pretak.
2255 AE = Neo Power gives up and agrees never to hold military equipment.
2260 AE = Neo Power falls and becomes a part of the Empire. The western alliance becomes very weak and economically the empire rules them as well.
2270 AE = After all wars between Urshans are over a pacifistic point of view is more common. The first Urshan gets into space.
2290 AE = The first Urshan lands on the moon Afar.
2300 AE = The first Urshan lands on the moon Katan. Using the icy water farms are built there.
2340 AE = Katan is being colonized. Fusion beams and nuclear engines are invented.
2400 AE = Jano is colonized, first ships leaves Hindo star system and reports back. The western alliance joins the empire.
2500 AE = Kando Jan and Doo are colonized and the first scout reports from another star system.
2600 AE = All the Hindo system is colonized. A small group on Jano rebels the empire and invent the famous Urshan Cloaking device in order to surprise the fleet. In the end they are all killed.
2700 AE = Signs of early live in Jano were found, it seems micro-organisms did live there. Is there life out there? Perhaps they know the secret of getting to the higher minds" (Rise religion stuff).
2800 AE = the hyper drive is invented. The Urshan becomes an inter galactic empire.
2900 AE = First life are discovered on a small planet in another star system. They are only worm like aquatic being but there is a great boost is bio-engineering and xeno-biology. They also found evidence for more advanced life that lived in that planet before and probably destroyed itself.
3000 AE = The Urshan empire gets a message from another space being, (not yet decided which) and meets all other intelligent life.
3100 AE = Present days (of the Halycon :( )

Next to come (I always say that and in the end do other things :)): Niaru Shanta, Religions, The Empier, Grasping and more...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: werechicken on April 29, 2006, 06:39:57 pm: woah, what is it with people and timelines, all this inovation and thought keeps making me look lazy, ah well monkey see money do
nice timeline though...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 30, 2006, 06:20:35 am: It got a little bigger then I suspected :).
I guess it will even get bigger later.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 30, 2006, 03:55:20 pm: You should draw some of the events from your timeline.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 02, 2006, 02:06:49 am: Will do Hydro :)

But first for my many fans (OK, well mostly for Balthemal :P) I present to you Niaru Shanta:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/8/8e/Niaru_Shanta.jpg/800px-Niaru_Shanta.jpg)
(He is wearing the official Commander uniform of the Urshan fleet. His shirt has stripes on it like the Urshan body to show the Urshan pride. Unlike human ranks the Urshan ranks don't show your authority but mostly your deeds. Meaning for each great thing you have done for the empire you gain one. His weapon is the known Urshan Auto-Gauntlet, A small and light weapon that is mostly that is rarely used in battles but mostly to show power and respect.)

Niaru Shanta - Biography
Niaru Shanta was born to a militaristic family destined to be s space pilot like his mother and father. In his "assignment" test in age 20 he surprised everyone, the computer destined him to be a fleet commander. He worked for 12 years in the Imperial army gaining one of the highest ranks possible for a commander. With his known fleet he annihilated many rebel and space pirates and brought great pride to the empire. Politically he believed in peace (unlike most military Urshans). He also admired the old emperor, "Shan Koor the Peacemaker" and even saved his life once when escorting his ship in space. When he was 32 years old (quite young for Urshans) The Halcyon Corporation took control over the Urshan race. In that time he was is in a 1 year mission with his fleet to search for new life and explore the galaxy. When he returned he and his rebels were the only one that were not infected by the Halcyon but the Rise church who used the Sharo concretion methods to survive (although after a short time they were effected as well). When he landed in Niho at first he was welcomed and admired but a few days later he noticed the Halcyon mind control everyone and fled with his fleet and a few Rise priests (They were all infected). He and his men were infected as well but using the Sharo methods they fought and destroyed the Halcyon (it was in an early stage). As known an Urshan who gets infected with the halcyon suffers from great damage to its Kia but they didn't know it at the time. Niaru felt others races must know about this before they will get infected and therefore he took control over the Urshan's universal communication center and was the first to tell all the other races about the Halcyon. After that he was chased by the Imperial forces and the Halcyon members for many days. He lost most of his men on a small colony that was bombarded by the Halcyon (who killed millions of innocents) and all he had left was a small base on a moon in the Tian system. He couldn't stay there for long and therefore flew alone into Auyelcliad space. When he got there he was very wounded (the Halcyon on Urshan effect) and entered a coma. The Auyelcliad who were close friends of the Urshan before the war due to the O.T.H.E.R alliance tried to heal him and took care of him. After a month or so he awoke although still paralyzed in most of his body. Then he flew to check what happened to his rebel base but they were all dead because of the illness. At the end he joined the Auyelcliad fleet hoping to help save the Urshans and at the moment he is searching for an Auyelcliad rebel.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on May 02, 2006, 02:25:14 am: LOL the hat makes it too cute!! I know he is shooting but man he looks so cute.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: GrrrArrgh on May 02, 2006, 02:35:04 am: Don't know why really, but one of those furry Russian hats or a little fez would be so much more fitting.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 02, 2006, 02:54:15 am: Quote
Don't know why really, but one of those furry Russian hats or a little fez would be so much more fitting.

LOL, I really did consider putting something like that. Probably inspired by the Cossacks.

And again the Urshans are not cute! (Well maybe a little :P)
And they have nothing to do with care bears ::)...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 02, 2006, 03:47:59 am: It's a deceiving look. Get too close to hug it and *splurp*! he hands you your left kidney.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Lambsquirter on May 02, 2006, 03:58:13 am: it kinda looks like the body of a pig :) and he has a funny little hat
looks good mate
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 07, 2006, 07:23:41 am: Hi everyone, it is time for a new Urshan update *Yay!

This time I finally give you some Urshan culture.

Hallelujah bless the lord! I give you Urshan religion:

Religion:
There were 3 main religions in the history of the Urshans.
In general:

The Balancers:
The most ancient religion mostly based on the shamanist believes of the tribal Urshans.
This religion was born and mainly taught in the continent of Sorer and in the western northern part of Niho.
Its followers believe there is a great high being called "The Balance". This being has no physical appearance. It is more like a phenomena then a thinking creature.
This being balances everything in the universe; whenever something dies somewhere else something else is born.
More importantly whenever someone suffers other gain great joy. According to this faith a tribe who believes in The Balance will try and harm other tribes.
This is a militaristic religion with many sacrificial ceremonies (one suffers, other gain joy…) many consider it evil but the Balancers believe it is just a simple fact of life,
they must work together and take care of each other. This religion dominated the world only in the early days of Urshan civilization.
The most known Urshan who worshiped the balanced and became a saint is "Tuuo Ja", A great northern warlord who conquered many lands and tortured their people in the name of the Balance.

Here you can see a shaman of the Balance in the early ages of civilization:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/1/19/Shaman_of_the_Balance.jpg/800px-Shaman_of_the_Balance.jpg)

The weapon he is holding is in fact a torture tool (to cause pain so others will gain happines). The huge fangs are made of copper or bone and are mostly ceremonial.

The Rise:
The main Urshan religion, this religion shall rule most of the world from the early decades of the Empire to the Galactic age.
This one was born in the continent of Sian and in its early days was considered foolish and only was taught in a few monasteries.
Later on in the days of the third emperor "Kora Yogamoth the Great" it was even forbidden and many monasteries were burned.
It was only when its son "Inu Yogamoth the Wise" started embracing the religion that his father agreed to make it the Empire's Religion.
The Rise is all about the three minds theory. Early shamans of the Balance discovered each Urshan has two brains, the Sharo and the Kia.
After many experiments it was discovered that the Kia is responsible for the instincts and body functionality and the Sharo for the mental abilities.
Those shamans were the first priests of the Rise. The Rise is all about learning to let go of the Kia and basic needs and get to the higher mind, the Sharo.
The people who are moved by the Kia are animals to the believers of the Rise, motivated by simple needs. The people who are moved by the Sharo are better and are considered more honorable.
And a few rare priests say they have reached completely to the highest brain called the "Una" and were totally free from all thoughts and needs and could only focus on higher and philosophical things.
The Rise is called so because they inspire to rise to higher minds and leave their material bodies.
The greatest follower of the rise ever was one of the first priests of the Rise, called "Notaro", or English "The Highest".
He has taught many students the ways of the Rise and even got to the forth mental mind who few even know about. He promoted the way of peace and tranquility but was killed by shamans of the Balance.

Here you can see a priest of the Rise in the early days of the empire:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/7/7c/Priest_of_the_Rise.jpg/373px-Priest_of_the_Rise.jpg)

The symbol on his medlion (which can barely be seen) represents the three minds.

The Supreme:
The Supreme is the newest religion, born in the continent of Pretak in the "Neo-Power" country and it stayed mostly there.
This is a very modern religion who doesn’t believe in an upper power but in the rule of Urshans over their destiny.
This religion never disappeared but will never be dominant either. The Supreme believe in the higher power of the Supreme Church,
a great powerful corporation of rich and wise capitalists. All of the believers give 20% of their income to the Supreme church and the church
uses that money to grow other member's, for propaganda and for glorifying the church itself.
The members of the church (the believers) get job places in other believer's places, chipper merchandise from the church, and most important knowing that someone takes care of you.
It is more like a big business organization then spiritual teaching religion. All the Urshans who work directly for the church are called priests and in the head of the pyramid stands the "Supreme Father".
This Urshan (who is replaced only in death to another politically high capitalist in the church) is the most important figure in the church.
The Urshan who invented the Supreme church was "Luto Casho", a very rich Urshan and the manager of the greatest weapon factory in "Neo-Power".
He was the greatest Supreme father of all times and used his power to bring "Neo-Power" into war with a tiny country near it and after it
bought the conquered land from the state and made it the Supreme headquarters. He is also the Urshan that brought the Supreme religion into the Empire.

Here you can see a modern priest of the Supreme:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/8/81/Priest_of_the_Supreme.jpg/488px-Priest_of_the_Supreme.jpg)

He is holding a "Message Jar", SMS like communication device. To show the power and money this religion has most of his clothing are made from expensive materials.

I will be more then happy to answer any question :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Krakow Sam on May 07, 2006, 07:44:45 am: So the Supreme are basically a bit like a cross between the masons and the people who run pyramid scheme scams, the Rise are comparable to Buddhism and the search for enligtenment, and the balance are sadistic nutjobs... interesting mix.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Henqix on May 07, 2006, 08:26:40 am: Whats that thing that sticks out from the supreme priests boot?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on May 07, 2006, 08:27:31 am: hey, they can stand upright! neato ;D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 07, 2006, 08:43:16 am: LOL, Krakow you really made me laugh :P.

The thing in his boot is a kind of Urshan jewelry. Because the supreme is a very capitalistic religion they like to "show off" in order to promote the religion.

And yeah they can stand up :), but they need something to lean on. The skill of walking on two legs without any walking staff is only acquired by ground soldiers and laborers.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Caltrop on May 07, 2006, 09:01:55 am: The Supremes seem to be a lot like Ferengi religion in Star Trek.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 07, 2006, 10:12:44 am: Never seen a single star-trek episode in my life I fear :P.

But thanks to wikipedia I checked out what you were talking about and in a way you are right.

I was aiming more for the American economical point of view in the 1930~ but thats pretty much the same.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Caltrop on May 07, 2006, 10:16:01 am: Quote from: BioCat on May 07, 2006, 10:12:44 am
Never seen a single star-trek episode in my life I fear :P.

*shakes head* your poor poor child... :P
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on May 10, 2006, 08:43:06 am: Very Very Nice.....i need to add soem Wonders of the world to my guys!!....
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 11, 2006, 04:03:41 am: Thank you all :), I always happy to answer about the Urshans.

did you guys saw all those new videos and pictures in E3! Well anyway :P...

I give you finally Urshan farming history (mianly in the past)

Agriculture:
Urshan culture since the beginning of civilization was based on farming. The first big groups of Urshans were agriculture societies. The Eastern Empire was in fact mainly based on farming in the ancient ages and through out history. Although the Urshans are omnivores and their ancestors were carnivores they tend to eat more vegetables then meat therefore the greatest crops of all times and the most basic and loved food is the Nuka. The Nuka was the main food source for the Urshans even in early evolutionary stages. The wild Nuka has many calories in it and vital vitamins. It is very common and the Urshan's unique grasping got its form mainly for gripping wild Nuka in nature. The civilized Urshans domesticated the Nuka into a more weather proof plant that can feed many. The empire almost fell apart in 1460 AE because of its need of Nuka. Crop farming really improved in the future when new machines were created in order to automate the process. The first Urshan robots were in fact "farming robots".

Nuka:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/4/43/Nuka_Color.jpg/412px-Nuka_Color.jpg)
The rare 4 "stick" Nuka.

The wild Nuka is a very common plant. From its trunk 3 smaller "sticks" grow. On the top of each of them the Nuka sacks grow where the "grain" grows. The 4 stick Nuka is a rare kind originally but was genetically infavoured by Urshan biologists. The Nuka is used to make Nuka bread, Nuka pie, Nuka juice and the favorite Nuka beer. The Nuka is harvested by a tool named "Ribu". A wood stick attached to 4 sharp blades. It is as ancient as farming itself and even the modern farming robots use a similar electrical harvesting tool.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/c/c8/Tool.jpg/428px-Tool.jpg)
The Ribu

More to come: Pictures and stories of the wonders of the world, Urshan music, Grasping, And many more...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 11, 2006, 09:11:46 am: I read that at SporeWiki. Nice info, and well-thought out. ;)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 12, 2006, 06:51:08 am: Thanks :), I try to update sporewiki everytime I add something new
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 12, 2006, 01:33:51 pm: Get ready for a suprise!

No I fear this is not some new information about my race, not yet.

But I've been playing around with photoshop trying to color some of my old drawings and here I give you something new I made:
(Don't expect future drawings to be that detailed, took me a long time :). But I will probably start painting old drawings).

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/3/37/Colored_Urshan_Concept.jpg/412px-Colored_Urshan_Concept.jpg)
This is a picture of a Balancer Shaman discovering the first "4 stick" wild Nuka. Now you cans see the colors of the Urshans finally.

But still some Info:
This is a picture of a Balancer Shaman called "Rut Duno". She was the leading shaman of a small tribe in Sian in the early days of civilization.
At this age agriculture just started and the farmers were working on domesticating the wild Nuka. Rut went out to search for "good quality" Nuka to breed when she found out this rare kind.
Later she brought it back to her village and it became the main Nuka kind for a few years. Unfortunately all the 4 stick Nuka fields were burned in a fire when day and for a few hundreds of years the 4 stick Nuka wasn't found.
Only in the imperial age the 4 stick will become the common kind of Nuka (after it would be found again).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 12, 2006, 02:28:51 pm: That's great, really cool! Love the volcano(?) in the background. Great colouring. ;)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on May 12, 2006, 03:10:02 pm: i always pictured them green... (hehe probably because of your avatar)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: QReaper on May 12, 2006, 03:21:50 pm: Maybe later in some phenomina, the Urshans would have to destrot the second planet and the furthest planet from the sun, to keep them from colliding once every 20,000 years?

Maybe not, maybe they can influence the orbits with their brains! That would be cool. But I am sorry, I am hi-jacking your creature develpment.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on May 12, 2006, 07:14:42 pm: Oooo I like the new coloring! Great job!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 13, 2006, 02:02:39 am: Thanks! It took me a while...

Quote
Maybe later in some phenomina, the Urshans would have to destrot the second planet and the furthest planet from the sun, to keep them from colliding once every 20,000 years?

Maybe not, maybe they can influence the orbits with their brains! That would be cool. But I am sorry, I am hi-jacking your creature develpment.

:), I'll think about it.

Also check once in a while the Urshans pictures because I will paint a few of them every know or then.

By the way although I already planned what would be the next things I will post about the Urshans, feel free to ask questions about other things or come up with ideas of Ursahn stuff you would like to see.

Quote
That's great, really cool! Love the volcano(?) in the background. Great colouring.

Oh and that is a volcano.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Xenomorph on May 13, 2006, 09:38:51 am: gee, you can realy colour them well. i cant colour, so my Snout will always look like a black and white movie. but keep up the good work! ;)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 16, 2006, 02:41:30 am: Xeno I used to think so too. Give it a try maybe you would be surprised :).

Anyway new stuff! I give you Urshan music!

Music:
Music has a great part in the Urshan culture. The Musical section in the Urshan's brain is located in the Sharo and the Rise believe that hearing music and playing it helps you Rise to higher minds. But music was invented much before the Rise. It is known that early shamans of the balance in the year 15,000 BE used to play the Hopper Cans during the torturing of their enemies and before great battles. Being a musician is a very honorable occupation.
In the modern age when recording was invented music took a great blow. Although recording music was illegal a big amount of criminals sold recorded music. After a few years music recording became legal but in order to keep musicians playing the empire opened its gate for all of them. All freelancer musicians disappeared and from that day on the empire is the only authorized body that can record Urshans playing. "The Imperial School of Music" became one of the best schools of music in the galaxy and after the Urshans joined the O.T.H.E.R alliance not only Urshans studied there, but other members. Urshan musicians are known to be very good, quite rich, and rather rare.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/1/1a/Color_HopperrCan.jpg/400px-Color_HopperrCan.jpg)

Hopper Cans:
The Hopper Cans in the oldest musical instrument. The hopper cans appear in ancient cave drawings from 15,000 BE. although it represents something ancient it is still a common instrument in the modern age. It is in fact a set of 5 wooden cans with leather at the bottom of each one. Because of the size differences between each can whenever the leather is hit by the wooden ball it makes a different sound. The musician actually juggles the balls between the different cans when he plays. The really talented ones use 7 cans and 4 balls but the common version is the 5 cans and 3 balls.

More to come: More instruments, painted version of old drawings, Grasping, Art and others...

I would be more then happy to hear comments or answer quistions.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 16, 2006, 03:09:36 am: Cool, like a juggler on drums. That's original. 8)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 16, 2006, 05:30:13 am: Thanks.

I also made some other instruments but I didn't have the chance to draw them yet.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on May 16, 2006, 09:25:02 am: Nice instruments!! i find it impossible to invent instruments.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 16, 2006, 12:51:55 pm: Quote from: Balthamael on May 16, 2006, 09:25:02 am
Nice instruments!! i find it impossible to invent instruments.

Hehe, me too. The Kazea are totally without music at the moment.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 18, 2006, 10:16:17 am: Hi there everybody. Because I have lots of important university and school exams I have much less time these days. This mainly effects the time I have for drawings and scanning what I drew so although I have sketched for example of lots of instruments I can only show you a few.

But do not worry, I would do my best to keep updating the information about the Urshans and adding new stuff.

So for now I give you another instrument and this time also its history. The Magnet Gauntlets!

History of the Magnetizing Gauntlets :
The magnetizing gauntlet was invented in 730 AE, Just around the time the compass was invented (Check out the Time Line). This is of course because at that time the Urshans learned about the polarity of magnetized iron and how to use it. Just around that time literature drama was developed as well and culturally the Empire blossomed. In that age, the first age of discovery, science and education became important and all kinds of talented artisans appeared. One of the brightest ones was "Chio Kon" who also invented the compass a few years before and was a skilled ship designer. Besides being a scientist and a known engineer Chio was a skilled Hopper Cans player and was known for that all around the empire. The only problem was that in that age good musicians weren't that rare and Chio who was so used to being the best in everything felt disappointed and not good enough. Therefore when he returned from a 4 years cruise, checking his latest invention (Compass) he got the inspiration to create a magnet based instrument. He used the idea of the Silver Row (Ancient instrument which is in fact 4 bells hanging on a rope and a metal stick) and created the Magnetizing Gauntlets.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/2/27/MagnetMusic.jpg/800px-MagnetMusic.jpg)
(Chio, playing the first time his new instrument in 731 AE)

Magnetizing Gauntlets:
This instrument is quite large and very expensive to make. Its base is two metal columns attached with a metal pipe. On this pipe there are 8-16 small ropes with metal balls tied at their ends. The musician is wearing two big metal gauntlets made from magnetize materials. Then he \ she sits on a small chair under the two columns and by moving his \ her hands he \ she is manipulating the small metal balls and making them collide to create sound. Each ball has a different shape, different size, different texture and some are even made from different materials. This is of course in order to create different sounds. It is considered very difficult to play the Magnetizing Gauntlets because it requires smooth movement, concentration and planning a head every move.

More to come: Grasping (Always saying that), Occupation System, Western Culture (None Imperial Culture), Western Warrior and Etc...

Always happy for comments and answering questions
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on May 18, 2006, 10:37:35 am: That must be very heavy! :P Very original idea anyway. Chio Kon seems like the Urshan da Vinci. :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on May 18, 2006, 12:09:06 pm: Ooh, nice.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 18, 2006, 12:49:17 pm: Quote
That must be very heavy! Very original idea anyway. Chio Kon seems like the Urshan da Vinci.

More like Shen Kua combined with Alexander Neckam.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shen_Kua
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on May 18, 2006, 06:53:13 pm: So what would the insturment sound like? Clacks of the hanging parts hitting each other?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 19, 2006, 01:27:35 am: Basically yes. Because of the diffrent shapes and materials it would have diffrent sounds though.
Generally the main effect the musician have on the sound is the speed of movment and the directions he is moving his hands.

Overall it would sound something like a Xylophone or few metal bells , ringing a few times in a row almost without pauses and after that short pauses between those rows.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Caltrop on May 24, 2006, 07:56:05 pm: I was just thinking, If the Balancers feel that pain in one person leads to happiness for another....

Are there any sorts of Balancer ascetics who inflict pain on themselves for the good of others?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 25, 2006, 10:30:42 am: Wow, that is an original thought :).

Well in the tribal times I guess no, because then they were mainly focused on harming others and figthing for survival.

And in the modern times... Well the religion almost disappeared but I guess a few still believe in it and probably some of them might deal damage to themselves for the general good. I should really write about that.

Cool idea anyway
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on May 27, 2006, 05:25:39 am: Hi everybody. As you can see I didn't post something in a while mainly because of my exams. But I did my best and in the time I had, I drew another picture and wrote some more information. Also painted a few of the all ones.

I give you:

The Occupation System over the history:

Before the Empire:
Before the empire was established the Urshans lived in tribal communities. In those communities both the role of the shaman and the role of the chief were passed in heritage or were given to the strongest. Education in this age was only given to young shamans or chieftains by the elder ex-shaman of the tribe. Other occupations like hunters or primitive farmers were also passed in heritage.

Early Days of the Empire:
When the empire was established much has changed. From now on the roll of the emperor was always given in heritage but he was also trained and educated before. Each emperor learned for his first 20 years how to rule, how fight, the history of the Urshans, and the ways of the Rise.
The new empire developed a new need to control the amount of Urshans working on each field. The forth emperor "Inu Yagamoth the Wise" was the first to invent a solution to this problem. He decided that each Urshan at the age of 14 would go meet a "Word Bringer", a messenger of the empire. Such word bringers could be found in every major town. All those word bringers would be given specific orders about how many farmers, workers, artisans and other professions are needed in this town and would give such titles randomly to each young Urshan. Then according to its profession the young Urshan would go to a "training school" where he would learn the basics of his profession. Such trainings would take from 6 month (messengers, workers and etc) to 6 years (Judges, Priests, Counselors and etc…). The Urshan can appeal on the profession he or she was given by paying a small amount of money to the empire and go throw short general tests that would decide your occupation (was quite rare, most Urshans believed in the system and didn't wish to bother the growing empire). Also a new role was invented, the "Education and Occupation Adviser".

First Discovery Age:
In the first age of discovery knowledge became very important. Emperor "Hayin Joota the Careful" decided to add 2 years of general study about the empire to all Urshans in the ages of 12-14. Also a new option was given to all Urshans in order to promote more scientists. All Urshan may appeal and wish to change their profession to scientist or artisan and if they pass a very demanding test they gain 8 years of study in the subject they choose.

The second Age of Discovery:
In this age education became very important. Instead of the old 2 years of general study the Urshans learned from the age of 8-16 general studies about the history, religion, and geography of their empire. Also the "Word Bringers" system improved greatly: From now on all Urshans were tested before given the profession (of course still considering the needs of the empire) and all the training time got much longer. From 3 years to 12 years.

The Early space days:
In this age was the greatest change in the occupation system ever. This system lasted until the modern space empire of the Urshan. After the computers were invented in 2200 AE there was a great change in the way information was dealt with. In 2450AE the empire started a new project called: "Cyber Word Bringers". The first cyber-bringer was built a few years after that and after a few more years all the word bringers were replaced in those highly advanced computers. Thanks to the new system there was no longer a need to define your profession only according to your location. The great net of computers communicated with itself and always knew what sort of occupation is most needed. Also the level of the test highly improved. The new tests took 10 days and included physical tests, mental tests, IQ tests and knowledge tests. From that day on all Urshans learned from the age of 10-20 general knowledge about: astronomy, physiques, science, politics, history, biology, geography, other races, Urshan relations with other races, and many other subjects. The occupation training also became much longer, from 6 years to 24 years. In the space age the Urshans are known for having an efficient occupation and unique education systems (And are the Education Advisers of the O.T.H.E.R).

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/d/db/Occupation.jpg/504px-Occupation.jpg)
(Early space age occupation system. The young Urshan is being tested both mentally and physically)

Sick of saying more to come :), so you'll see :P.

By the way comments and questions are more then welcome.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on May 27, 2006, 06:49:57 am: Quote from: BioCat on May 27, 2006, 05:25:39 am
The new tests took 10 days and included physical tests, mental tests, IQ tests and knowledge tests. From that day on all Urshans learned from the age of 10-20 general knowledge about: astronomy, physiques, science, politics, history, biology, geography, other races, Urshan relations with other races, and many other subjects.

"Alright class settle down. Today's lesson: Things not to say to a Torpal..."
:D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 11, 2006, 05:52:40 am: Do you believe it? Finally I finished most of my exams and have more time to post here. So at last I give you some new Urshan information and pictures:

(I suggest reading again what I wrote about agriculture before reading this post. It would help you understand some of the things here)

Modern Agriculture:
One of the main fields the Urshans excellent at is agriculture. As I written before all the Urshan civilization was and is based on farming. The empire was in fact a huge pack of farmers who gathered together under the rule of one. I didn’t mention though what makes the Urshans one of the best galactic farmers. Are they extremely fitted for such work? Do they work extremely fast? Well basically it's a matter of experience. The Urshan society since the dawn of time focused most of it's efforts on agriculture. But one might say: "So what if the Urshans were good farmers in the ancient times and have pretty good plants like the Nuka to work with. That doesn't mean they are good modern farmers". So in a way you are right. So I present to you the main work of the modern Urshan farmer, the history of modern farming and especially the history of robotic machines in the Urshan history.

Urshan Robotics

Around the year 2200 AD, a time of modern wars between great nations the computers were invented. First mainly use for calculation and ballistic until the Neo-Power nation quickly discovered their great potential and started working on automating work. But before they could ever finish it the great last war started in which Neo-Power fell into political and economical ruin. Because of the free trade approach of the Neo-Power very fast all robotics knowledge was sold by private researchers to the empire's scientists. Now that the empire had no real enemies they could use their resources and science mainly for peaceful matters. They choose of course the field of agriculture, the basic need of the huge empire. In a few years Farming Bots were build. These big machines replaced the work of the simple farmer and made farming a lot trickier job. At first the farmers protested against this reform but in a few years all the farmers learned the benefits of the new system. They no longer had to use simple none automated machines and had much more time on their hands. The modern farmers became mainly robot builders, fixers ad computer engineers learning to program their robots. The robots were build using the knowledge of the old farming ways. They had laser "Ribu" like harvesting tools, great sensors to gain a lot of input including height of crops, water levels, amount of products and so on. The new reform also made farming a more respectable job. Although even in the past farming was respected for the great contribution to the beloved empire now farmers were educated people with a lot of responsibility.

This great knowledge about machines was also used in the future in times of war against other races. The Urshans rarely send simple armed troops to the battles front and most of the times used automated robots to do their work. I would tell you in the future about the Urshan war robots as well.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/0/01/Urshan_Robo-Farmer.JPG/544px-Urshan_Robo-Farmer.JPG)

Meet the: Imperial Farming Automated Machine #12 or IFAM12. This robot was built in 2264 so it is pretty ancient but most of the modern robots are based on it.
It uses its Chopper\Graspers to cut the Nuka seed sacks and put them into his metal can. This idea was generally taken from the ancient Ribu tool. The Urshans feel obligated to respect the robots because they represent the new technology and the Urshan's skill and therefore usually make them look like Urshans (in a general way).

Feel free to post, I would love to hear what you think, what you have to say, and generally hear form you after this long time. Also feel free to come with requests for new things you want to see.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on June 11, 2006, 07:44:12 am: Very cool. Perhaps the Urshans and Nauceans could have a battle bot content with their robots. Course Nauceans are not to thrilled about robots after the whole uprising.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 11, 2006, 08:00:21 am: Sure, if it involves honor and loyalty the Urshans are in. I just need to paint those battle-bots first.

And yeah I know what you mean, The Nauceans don't want things to get out of hand again I guess :).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: FluffyJane on June 12, 2006, 03:40:16 am: Ooh, I like the stripes on that robot.

And those nice antennas. But I wonder, why does it look like a human in a way?

Would like to see some War robots as well, anyway keep them coming.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: TheNecromonicon on June 12, 2006, 03:43:44 am: Quote from: FluffyJane on June 12, 2006, 03:40:16 am
Ooh, I like the stripes on that robot.

And those nice antennas. But I wonder, why does it look like a human in a way?

Would like to see some War robots as well, anyway keep them coming.

For once, I agree with Jane. Why would the Urshan build humanoid robots? Seems a bit off.

Also, I think a battle bots competition would be extremely cool, where all the races can enter their bots.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Netherflare on June 12, 2006, 06:04:51 am: Quote from: TheNecromonicon on June 12, 2006, 03:43:44 am
Quote from: FluffyJane on June 12, 2006, 03:40:16 am
Ooh, I like the stripes on that robot.

And those nice antennas. But I wonder, why does it look like a human in a way?

Would like to see some War robots as well, anyway keep them coming.

For once, I agree with Jane. Why would the Urshan build humanoid robots? Seems a bit off.

Also, I think a battle bots competition would be extremely cool, where all the races can enter their bots.

now that would definently be cool!

and these Urshan creatures, very interesting. I was just reading them.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 12, 2006, 06:12:17 am: Quote
and these Urshan creatures, very interesting. I was just reading them.
Thanks everyone, happy to see you like it. You can check them up in sporewiki as well, I update there whenever I post.

Quote
But I wonder, why does it look like a human in a way?
Well they are not that much like humans, but yeah I guess I was effected by those science fiction robots. But still it has the Urshan stripes and funny haircut on it.

Quote
Also, I think a battle bots competition would be extremely cool, where all the races can enter their bots.
As I said to Hydro, as long it is an honorable fight for glory and sports (and not just aggressive and brutal, although these would add for sure :P) the Urshans would be happy to show their experience in this field.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on June 12, 2006, 10:28:18 pm: Nice bot! Seems a bit unbalanced to me though. :P
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 13, 2006, 07:13:17 am: Quote
Nice bot! Seems a bit unbalanced to me though.

Only when its standing :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 15, 2006, 04:38:00 am: Coming very soon, the war robots.

But for now I give your werechicken's beautiful work: A city on Niho in east Sian, view from the near sub-tropical forest:

(http://www.imgcity.net/server/primary/Urshan.jpg)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on June 15, 2006, 05:03:19 am: Nice pic. werechicken is realy good! ;D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 16, 2006, 02:57:28 am: Finally some Urshan weaponry. This time as I promised I give you the Urshan battle robot - The Urshan Justice Bringer.

Urshan War Robots
As I mentioned before the Urshans have a great amount of knowledge and experience in the field of robotics. But since the old IFAM 12 a lot has change. The new and powerful Urshan robots are agile, deadly and are no doubt better then the Urshan foot soldier.

The Urshan Justice-Bringer:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/b/b2/War-Bot.JPG/406px-War-Bot.JPG)

Full Name: the Imperial battle automated machine, or the IBAM 47.
Invented in: Current time, Galactic age.
Height: 3.5 meters
Energy Source: Anti-matter, Fusion.
General Structure: 4 Spider-Like legs, enable it to climb on walls, dodge and run in 60 Km per hour. One big Torso piece and a large head like piece, build in the general form of most aliens in order to move more easily in civilized areas. Made of strong but light metals.
Weaponry and Features: Two small Fusion cannons for long range. Two huge Metal blades for Melee battles and climbing. Spiked legs. Powerful Sensors. Addable piece: Two big Freezing canons of nitrogen on its shoulders for none deadly combat. Most important the known Urshan Clocking device is attached to it enabling it to disappear both from "biological eyes" and sensors.
More information: The Justice Bringer might not be the most powerful robot out there nor the fastest but it is sure fast, deadly and more then all: Has the best AI abilities due to the Urshans great experience. A true wonder of Urshan engineering.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: werechicken on June 16, 2006, 03:55:24 am: Quote from: Jack Zetter on June 15, 2006, 05:03:19 am
Nice pic. werechicken is realy good! ;D
Thx and I'll get your finished tonight or tomorrow, I've just found out my friend has Zbrush on her computer, so I've been playing, also I'd like to point out that the picture above is actually unfinished, I need to add more vegetation and maybe alter the atmosphere settings a bit.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on June 16, 2006, 05:40:43 pm: love the robot
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 17, 2006, 03:56:14 am: Thanks. The scanning went a little bad and as you can see it is not perfect in that sense but it is still pretty good.

And for those who complained about the IFAM being too humanoid I think the IBAM is much better in that way.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on June 20, 2006, 09:57:08 am: Just got myself up to date with the Urshans-
AWESOME robots BioCat!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on September 09, 2006, 04:56:39 pm: woo-hoo! goooo urshans ;D

(http://img3.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/3d7cfbd0a8.jpg)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on September 09, 2006, 11:59:05 pm: Nice fanart Opera, it really matches BioCat's drawings.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: shadowlord18 on September 10, 2006, 12:45:58 am: very cool
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 16, 2006, 11:14:52 am: Hi sorry I wasn't here for a while, but wait why can't I see it? :(
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on September 16, 2006, 11:45:11 am: ??? i can see it
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 16, 2006, 11:56:11 am: Hehe :), I can see it now.
Funny propotions and the hand grasp is a little incorrect but generally very cool :).

I love the hair :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 17, 2006, 09:20:41 am: Well I guess it’s about time for an Urshan update (considering the last one was a few months ago J …)
By the way although I tried reading and understanding all those recent wars and events I missed if something I wrote here is doesn't make sense according to those events please tell me and I will correct myself.

No Pictures I fear :D

"The Missing Urshan History":
Much has changed since the days of the great Urshan Empire. The once proud empire that supported multi-racial agreements and was known for its efficiency and lack of bureaucracy has sunk after the days of the Necro war. New emperors rose and promised a renewed empire but all have failed. After a few hundred years the Urshans barely maintained their connection to the other races, mainly by the weak O.T.H.E.R alliance, a shadow of its former glory. The real disaster came 650 years later when finally after years of struggle a once rebel colony from the Halcyon ages became a superpower and went to war against the empire. After 75 years of the horrible war called “The Shaded War” 55% of the Urshan population was killed and 10% of the planets were destroyed completely. After hundred of thousands of years of complete rule over the Urshan race the empire became a secondary faction, after a cease-fire was declared. Instead the main faction became the “Labor Urshan”.

The Labor Urshan:
This organization ruled 65% of the Urshan planets and had a great military advantage over the empire. Unlike the empire that maintained their culture, religion and political structure the Labor Urshans worked in other ways. They neglected “The Rise” for a new religion called “Future Balance” based on the old balancers religion with a touch of “Supreme religion”. Leadership was not passed hereditary as before. Instead every time the last dictator died the 10 most influential generals gathered an equal amount of armies and battled for 20 days until the all the others were vanquished and the winner would became ruler.

The only thing they did kept was the organized system of the empire. They even made it more efficient by adding the concept of slaves and nobles. Also robotic organs became common and all workers were forced to become half machines half organisms.

The Labor Urshans disconnected themselves almost completely from all other races.

The Modern Empire:
After the Shaded war the empire was crushed. No one believed the empire could really lose and this historical shock damaged its reputation greatly. The empire still kept all of its ancient customs unlike the Labor. In the first 250 years the empire was in very a bad shape and all were certain that the Labor would finish the job they started in the last war and gain full control over the Urshan war. Until a great emperor called “Chen Nihon” was crowned. After his father, a sickly man, died in the young age of 62 his son; only 31 years old became the emperor. This new emperor promoted disconnecting completely from the Labor, a brave but dangerous move. In the first 10 years the empire almost collapsed economically but with the help of galactic trade the empire regained its former power. The Empire colonized hundreds of near empty star systems and even found an intelligent race called “The Thoons” and allied with them until after a some time all Thoons became citizens in the empire (More about the Thoons later). Although the tension between the Empire and the Labor rose both feared another war might destroy the sacred balance and for a long time there was no hostility what so ever. Before his death Chen moved his personality and information into a computer that still exists today, helping modern emperors.

Now days the ratio is 92% of the starts are imperial, 7.7% are Labor ruled and the rest are rebel colonies.

More information later ;).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on September 18, 2006, 08:02:49 am: Very cool, if a little sad.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 18, 2006, 12:54:17 pm: Well not that sad :), its not that the empire has fallen or something.
It just had a very bad few hundreds of years and snapped out of it later.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 25, 2006, 12:56:05 pm: Like I promised, the Thoons.

The Story of the Thoons begin:
Originally from the forest planet of Cashood this race was almost extinct just before making it to the galactic phase. The story of the Thoons cannot be told without the Urshan point of view.

It was in the darkest days of the empire, just 220 years after the shaded war. All were certain that the empire and the long history of the imperial Urshans are doomed. A new emperor named Diru Nihon (The grandfather of the Chen Nihon the Resurrector) ruled the empire in the old age of 88. Knowing this might be his last years to help he decided to send 10 different exploring teams to search for planets with valuable materials or perhaps even precursor artifacts. He called the project: “Project Thoonar”, or in English, economical expanding project. One of those leaders was the famous precursors expert and the known priest of the rise “Shan Gua”. After 13 years of failure the old emperor died and was replaced by its young but hastey son. The new emperor canceled the project and ordered all ships to return. Shan Gua couldn’t face the shame and decided to disobey the order and not to return until he will find something that was worth it. For 9 more years he scouted the near star systems he finally arrived into a far away small system with a unique planet. At first he thought that it might have been the home of an ancient race but when he circled it he realazed it was colonized by an unknown race. He immediately started taking creatures, items and anything he could find back to its ship for analyze. Then he headed back home looking forward to show all the wonderful things he found. Unfortunately the emperor at that time wasn’t as interested in other races as he was. He had enough problems to deal back home (His growing sickness, The Labors and so on). Shan was sent for a working camp for all of its life and the things he brought home were given to the Niho Xenobiology museum. One of those things was a young Thoon named “Gadiro”. Back home Gadiro was a journalist who worked for one of the great corporations. At first the scientists were ready to dissect him and learn more about its inner structure but even in those times of sorrow there is always a ray of light. A female Urshan xeno-biologist named “Liana Janlo” who was the head of the science team decided that they must first converse with him and try to learn more about them before going straight to the operations room.

To be continued: The meeting between the races, The Thoons in general. (Including pictures)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on September 30, 2006, 03:02:35 am: The story of the empires is great, if a little sad for the Urshans. As for the Thoons, very interesting, tell us more!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on September 30, 2006, 05:51:04 am: Thanks, I am happy to see you are intersted :)

Before I will continue with the tale of the Thoon's galactic meeting I must first tell you about the Thoons themselves so you will know their point of view:

The Thoons:

(http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/2074/thoonsbi8.jpg)

Home Planet: Cashood.

Physical:
The Thoons are small people, just about 1.5 meters standing. They developed from an omnivore tree-climbing creature. Their feeding organ is a long powerful beak that splits into three parts. Inside they have two tongues and acidic spittle. They have three long tails that are used for reproduction decoration and to balance their bodies. They have two pairs of identical hands with three fingers, each slightly bigger than the one before it. Their feet have two claw like fingers that can grasp branches quite effectively. They have dog like ears and a single huge eye. Their internal organs are lower then ours, their brain is at the back of their skulls and they reproduce using their tails.

History:
In the beginning of their history the Thoons were nomadic people. Later they formed tribes and started gathering into small groups. Originally the Thoons were very pacifistic and wars were rare. Quite soon in their history a great nation called “Thooka” or in English “Terra’s Servant” rose. This nation gave equal rights to of all its citizens. The ruler of that nation was elected and generally their form of government with very democratic. Since their ancient days the Thoons were fascinated in physiques and astronomy and very soon they learned many ways to store gain and use energy. The science of physiques was sacred to them as they always desired and believed that they will find the ultimate truth by discovering more in this subject. But this positive situation was about to change. In their modern age the Thoons moved into a capitalistic form of economy. This decision almost led to their downfall as many corporations were founded. Soon those corporations took control over all fields of life and started competing with each other until the final destruction. When the Urshan met the Thoons three of the main corporations were in the middle of their third world war. Nukes were used quite commonly and the Thoon race started crumbling.

Culture:
The Thoons are peaceful people who admire science and nature. They are quite xeno-phobic to all races but the Urshans who saved them. They have no religion but art and especially music has a great role in their lives. They invented a few of the most unique instruments in the galaxy that are based on very advanced physiques. They despise time travel and are hunting every organization that tries to gain this technology after they had a horrible accident in their early modern ages. A foolish but brave scientist built a time portal and successfully launched items into the Thoon’s past and future. This action almost destroyed half of their population when he finally launched himself into the past and tried to command an army and take control over the entire race (although this action damaged their culture, it gave the Thoons a serious scientific boost). After that all time machines were destroyed.

Coming soon: The Meeting of the races, the story of the reporter and the xeno-biologist.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on October 18, 2006, 04:44:47 pm: Update!:
I suggest reading what I wrote about the Thoons and the first part of the story on page 7 before reading this.

The Meeting of the Races:

Liana Janlo entered the cell of the young Thoon. A few robotic guards and a recording robot accompanied her. She was well prepared for this meeting although the officials didn’t support it. She spent the last few days reading the language investigator's report and studiing the Thoon's language quite well. She was fascinated about their unique way of speech and literature.

When the cell door opened the young Thoon who didn’t see any living creature for a few months felt both joy and suspicion. His instincts told him to try and seek a way out but his journalistic senses didn’t allow him to do so. He looked at the bizarre being that entered his cell, what is it thinking? Does it have feelings? What does it know about me? Gadiro was very confused.

“Greetings finding 23BD aka Gadiro the Thoon”. The Thoon was surprised the Urshan could speak his language; he immediately shared great respect for her. “I am here to investigate more about your ways of thinking, culture, and mental abilities before we shall send you to the operating room”. Gadiro knew he had nothing to lose at that point, he would probably never report this story to anyone. “Greetings Urshan, I will tell you everything you need to know. But first, I know nothing about you”. “Well, we are a sapience race of furry mammalian beings with a double neural centers and an advanced culture. We are known around the universe for our farming abilities, robotic skills, and unique philosophical \ theological approach. The Thoon was quite shocked, “around the universe? So there are indeed many other life forms out there? We have been searching for such for ages!”. Liana smiled, an expression unfamiliar to the unique mouthed Thoons. She loved his passion for knowledge, something rare in those dark ages of cold war. “But you didn’t answer my question, I asked about you not your race” said Gadiro. Liana was embarrassed, “I am a the head of the xeno-biology department in the Urshan capitol of Niho and a known scientist. I was appointed to the role of investigating the material brought by the criminal captain Shan Gua”. “I wonder, are all members of your race so official?” said the rude Thoon. “In fact we are, we all have our roles in life and do it the best we can for the empire. But enough about us Thoon, tell me about you race”. Gadiro was filled with sweet and sour memories, “Ah Cashood, I wish I could have told you it was a beautiful planet, but no more”. “It is advanced no doubt, many great buildings, and war machines…”. Liana noticed his expression of sorrow, “I see, we Urshans united under the Empire quite early in our history, we never had your problems. Though the current events of the Labor…”. What was she doing? She thought to herself, why did she have to tell him all that? She must be losing her mind. Silence, both of them felt a common bond, their hatred to war.

After a long investigation Liana left the room followed by her robots. The biologists waited in the operation room for word from their leader. Liana entered the room and locked the door behind her. “Fellow scientists, the Thoons are our friends, they shall be our savers. We must act at once, I always trusted the empire but in order to save it we have to do what’s needed”. Liana picked up an operation laser and steamed the small recording robot. "Justice must be done, we must speak to the superiors at once!"

To be continued: The third part: The story of Liana and Gadiro, The meeting of the nations, the rescue of the Thoons. Including pictures :).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on October 28, 2006, 12:21:21 pm: This is part 3 of the story, I recommend reading about the Thoons the modern Urshans and the two parts before reading this.

The Meeting of the Empires:

(http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/8869/urshanandthoon1fa1.jpg)
(Gadiro and Liana)

After she spoke with Gadiro Liana signed all the official documents needed and convinced her superiors to let her gain control over his resident and take him as her “special project”. Gadiro who was curious read every data he could find about the Urshans, their way of government, history and so on while Liana used her connection to and establish another expedition to Cashood. During their work they became very good friends, with shared goals and ideas. No body knows if this is true but some future historians claimed they even became romantically attached. Finally after about a year and a half of many political battles Liana got an appointment with the emperor himself. She gathered all the scientists statesman and advisors who were for this project she could find, and went to see the emperor. The emperor at the time was Kamu Nihon the Struggler, a weak emperor that failed to save the empire from a lot of inner struggles. She even brought Gadiro, after she taught him the Urshan’s language to go and persuade the emperor himself. They explained all about the knowledge the empire would get, the allies it so desperately needs against the labor, the cultural and biological boost and the emotional humane side but for no use. The emperor was far too worried about creating a larger fleet in case the war would get warmer and thought this was a waste of time. All was about to get doomed but the voice of one man saved the mission, Chen Nihon the son of the emperor at that time and the greatest empire this era has ever seen in the future. He persuaded his father to go along with the mission and even to add more military forces and resources. Finally 4 years after Gadiro met Liana the mission began. A huge fleet containing Urshan explanation books, Computers, resources, armed forces if needed, Urshan cultural samples and many others was sent to Cashood leaded by Professor Liana Janlo and Professor of honor Gadiro the Thoon. The Thoons were amazed when the huge fleet of aliens landed in the middle of their planet seeking to speak to their leader. Of course the Thoons at that time were in a middle of a corporations war and weren’t leaded at all. The Urshans gathered 150 of the greatest Thoon minds and influential Thoons and ranked them as the Council of the Thoons. Of course Gadiro was given a place in that council. Then they stopped all the wars and returned order to the planet after killing all the corporations’ leaders and any rebels. 20 years later the planet was finally in peace, after it was restored ecologically and all Thoons became citizens of the Urshan Empire. Only a small group of Thoons called “The Movement for Thoon Power” has escaped and is currently living in the dieing labor nation. Later the Thoons helped the Urshan Empire by contributing a lot of knowledge in physiques and helping them research many new technologies as well. This boost was one of the main factors that helped the Empire rise again and become the main and dominant ruling body for the Urshans (unlike the Labor that has lost most of its power and now is a secondary much weaker nation). After a known meeting between the council and the emperor the Thoons informed the Urshans they would like to be equal citizens in their empire and to live under the Urshan flag. The emperor (At that time, Chen Nihon the Resurrector) agreed and until this day the Thoons live in small communities all around the empire, helping the Urshan Empire in all fields and being equal to the Urshan citizens. The council moved to a huge building built especially for them in Cashood where they discuss the needs of the Thoon citizens and share their conclusions with the empire. After Gadiro and Liana died two huge statues of them were built both in Cashood and Niho.

More to come: Not sure yet, open to ideas.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Josasa on October 28, 2006, 12:46:05 pm: That whole story was great although i don't understand how so many years passed from the time of the Halycon War to the present.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on October 28, 2006, 12:50:56 pm: Thanks, well I was sure this was the time that passed until all the current events. Maybe I was a little off. The Necro era and all this probably took a long time. Maybe the total of about 900 years was slightly too much :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Josasa on October 28, 2006, 01:04:49 pm: Quote from: BioCat on October 28, 2006, 12:50:56 pm
Thanks, well I was sure this was the time that passed until all the current events. Maybe I was a little off. The Necro era and all this probably took a long time. Maybe the total of about 900 years was slightly too much :)

Maybe, but it still makes for a great story.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on October 29, 2006, 01:46:43 am: Cool, as always.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on October 29, 2006, 06:30:08 am: Thanks, as I said I am open for new ideas of what I should add. Maybe I should check that list Hydro and Hug made a long time ago about common things their races have.

Still I am open to suggestions.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: a14gt on November 08, 2006, 02:02:12 pm: call this a bump or whatever, i call it random fan pic day.
(http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/8161/urshaneq5.png)
enjoy!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 08, 2006, 03:07:24 pm: Wow, brilliant. Though it isn't exactly how an Urshan looks like I feel you really got the Urshan's spirit in here :).

I also like it's feral appearance, looks a like a savage Urshan. And nice job and not doing a nose, its harder then one might think :P,

good job!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: a14gt on November 08, 2006, 03:12:27 pm: i didn't notice i didn't draw a nose, it was an accedent..but it works.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 10, 2006, 12:19:48 pm: Just to let you fellows know, I updated the Sporewiki page. So now you can learn all about the Urshans from a single page if you wish.

http://www.sporewiki.com/Urshan_%28Concept%29
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 16, 2006, 09:45:06 am: Coming soon (about an hour), Urshan buildings. I am currently coloring my drawings so I hope it turns out good :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 16, 2006, 10:49:00 am: Great, now I feel stupid for triple posting. Well never mind that.
I was thinking recently on which of the things I made could be seen in spore, and then I remembered, I didn’t even show how the Urshan buildings looks like. So here they are, the imperial building history:

Eastern Urshan Buildings:

Ancient Mother Huts (Takas):
These old buildings hosted about 25 Urshans. Usually the tribal leader or the shaman had a single Taka for themselves and their families. They were lifted from the ground for protection from floods. They were mainly made from soft trees, hey and branches. The main disadvantage is the fact they were highly flammable and small fires could burn down whole villages.

These buildings were mainly common in areas near rivers or sea and sometimes they were even built just near a river or on the shore. The windows on the roof are used to let smoke out when cooking. Very few original ancient Takas were left because most of them were either burned or rot down.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/e/e8/OldBuilding.jpg/800px-OldBuilding.jpg)
20,000 BE – 1 AE

High Class Pagodas (Kotians)
While in the middle ages most of the buildings were made of stone and had simple hey roofs the nobles and empire officials usually lived and worked in these unique pagoda like buildings. The unique roof shape is of course useful against rain and also shows the sign or power. In the top of every one of those buildings there was a tiny sphere that represented the highest mind, the hypothetical Una.

The legend says a mad architect built the first Kotian. In his old age after helping the empire he decide to build his own tower of solitude. He decided to design it as a spiky Mushroom with spears coming out from the all the edges of the roof. He died before finishing it and his apprentice was sure the spikes were only meant for the corners. When he realized he was wrong it was too late.

They were usaully colored in extremly powerful colors so they could be seen from a far.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/6/66/MiddleBuilding.jpg/435px-MiddleBuilding.jpg)
1 AE – 2100 AE

Modern Building (Modern Kotians)

These modern skyscrapers can be found all around Niho and any other Urshan colony. Their design is based on the ancient Kotians and like them the Una sphere can always be found. In some cities the buildings are connected with tiny bridges or vertical elevators. Their unique structure makes them grounded and they can stand hard earth-quakes.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/0/0c/FutureBuilding.jpg/436px-FutureBuilding.jpg)
2100 AE +

Coming soon: Buildings of the Northern Urshans, Wonders of the world. If you have any requests or suggestions please post them here :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on November 16, 2006, 12:04:58 pm: Very cool buildings, I like the story behind the Pagodas ;).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 16, 2006, 03:04:46 pm: Thanks, I saw the middle-ages pagoda was slightly too earthlike so I decide to make some bizzare story making it more unique :).

By the way, if anyone has any ideas for what more I should make for the Urshans or anything to say about what I made, please do.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on November 17, 2006, 06:05:24 am: These buildings are awesome :) I can never really think up Yunimian buildings :(
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 17, 2006, 08:59:27 am: Thanks, I worked hard on that mother hut.

And isn't that hard, you should really try and see it would flow naturally :).

You should also think about their history and what buildings would fit their style. Also remember that architecture is something that develops as time passes and the buildings in different ages should have some similarities.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Rhodix on November 17, 2006, 07:09:16 pm: Very cool buildings!
Especially the mother huts. :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on November 17, 2006, 09:58:00 pm: love the houses!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on November 26, 2006, 08:06:41 am: Lovely skyscraper! I wish Hong Kong looked like that. ;D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 26, 2006, 08:57:05 am: Thanks! You guys keep me motivated. I have some exams soon but I hope that by the end of this week I could post another big update.

By the way I am still open for suggestions about what I should post about next.

Edit: RP news, the current Emperor Jan Nihon died and a new emperor called Shio Nihon now rules the empire.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 30, 2006, 01:29:55 pm: Ok it is time for a new update! I thought I will stick with architecture for a while and therefore I decided to start drawing the world wonders of Niho. You can find the basic information and history of the building of each wonder in the historic time line in sporewiki.

The Temple of the Greatest Mind:
(I wonder if I ever mentioned it. The clouds on Niho are purple and the skies are greenish teal)

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/2/24/Temple_Of_the_Greatest_Mind_copy.jpg/580px-Temple_Of_the_Greatest_Mind_copy.jpg)

This is the oldest wonder of the world that is known in Niho. Its history is very linked to the imperial heritage even today. It symbolizes, faith, power, glory, and spiritual sight.

The hill the structure stands on is about 80 meters high and the building itself is about 150 meters tall (all together, including the hill) at the tip of the gem. The hill is Urshan made. It was originally created as a strategically location for a fort but it was abandoned and on its ruins the temple was built. The structure itself contains hundreds of scholars and priests that live and practice the rise there and is in fact a pyramid with a huge dome at its end. In the top room of the dome there is a small chamber that is lighten with fire by the priests and through a small hole in the dome it shines on the huge gem on top and spreads light all over the area. The climbing to get to the temple isn’t easy and therefore the monks and priests usually stay there for long periods of time. This temple is considered the personal temple of the emperor and his family but in the year 186 AE the emperor allowed everyone to visit it, not only spiritual or royal Urshans. After that it became a main center of religion and stays this way until this day.

The history of this place is quite remarkable. It was built in 150 AE when the rise was only 250 years old. For 150 years the followers of the rise were chased and slaughtered until Emperor Inu Yagmoth the Wise embraced it and made it into the empire’s state religion. Though a hundred years has past since that day, there was still a little tension in the empire when it came to religion. Many nobles were still against the new religion and in order to show it’s power and influence the emperor of that time, “Kiosho Yagmoth the Noble” ordered his servants to build him a huge monument for the rise. At first they decided on building a huge statue of the rise’s symbol, the upside down hacked pyramid, but because there was a lack of temples they decided instead to build a huge temple to solve this problem.
These days from all around the galaxies followers of the rise, historians, architects, and even regular tourists come to see this wonder of the ancient world. The cradle of the Urshan Empire.

Coming Next: Open for suggestions, probably more world wonders.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on November 30, 2006, 01:43:27 pm: lovely!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on November 30, 2006, 01:49:34 pm: Nice :) Reminds me of the tower of Babylon though. Perhaps you could create the palaces of Vii?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 30, 2006, 01:52:19 pm: Sure, I have a few more world wonders I need to do it before it but I would be happy to do it as well. I would need a description though :).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on November 30, 2006, 01:58:16 pm: Well, think middle-eastern meets Byzantine, with some styled waterfalls and fountains.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: nuclearchinchila on November 30, 2006, 03:12:47 pm: Awesome stuff BioCat!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 01, 2006, 11:29:28 pm: That is immensley cool.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: a14gt on December 04, 2006, 01:11:43 pm: time to start

*A large Anubian fleet comes out of a hole above the Urshans home planet*
Commander//Under the command of general Leba, The species by the name of the Urshans will be conquered by the Anubian empire. Resistence would be pointless, Give your self To the Anubian Empire now and you will be Spared, Resist and prepare to be attacked//

Post in the thread
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 05, 2006, 11:02:37 am: War against the Urshans means war against the grand union.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 05, 2006, 11:08:18 am: Quote from: BioCat on December 05, 2006, 11:02:37 am
War against the Urshans means war against the grand union.
And your destruction.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 07, 2006, 08:31:03 am: New Urshan update.

I wanted to keep making Urshan buildings and wonders but the Urshans are now under three different wars so I thought this is a good time to update their warfare abilities.

So a battle update for the Urshans:

First I will start by necroing some Urshan technology. The ones of you that know the Urshans know they are experts of three different fields: Philosophy, Agriculture and Robotics. So this is the Urshan war bot, a common replacement for foot troopers.

I add a painted version of an older picture, and I will add the text I wrote back than:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/2/25/JusticeBringer.jpg/406px-JusticeBringer.jpg)

Full Name: the Imperial battle automated machine, or the IBAM 47.
Nickname: JusticeBringer.
Invented in: Original vesrion - Halcyon age.
Height: 3.5 meters
Energy Source: Anti-matter, Fusion.
General Structure: 4 Spider-Like legs, enable it to climb on walls, dodge and run in 60 Km per hour. One big Torso piece and a large head like piece, build in the general form of most aliens in order to move more easily in civilized areas. Made of strong but light metals. Weaponry and Features: Two small Fusion cannons for long range. Two huge Metal blades for Melee battles and climbing. Spiked legs. Powerful Sensors.
Addable piece: Two big Freezing canons of nitrogen on its shoulders for none deadly combat. Most important the known Urshan Clocking device is attached to it enabling it to disappear both from "biological eyes" and sensors.
More information: The Justice Bringer might not be the most powerful robot out there nor the fastest but it is sure fast, deadly and more than all: Has the best AI abilities due to the Urshans great experience. A true wonder of Urshan engineering.

The Urshan Dreadnought:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/c/cb/Dreadnought.jpg/800px-Dreadnought.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 8 Small fusion cannons, 2 great fusion cannons. Two more huge and deadly fusion tubes, created with the super advanced Thoon technology, masters of physics.

Crew: 300

Secondary Weapons: 4 Antimatter torpedoes, point defense laser cannons, antimatter bombs, radiation booster.

Defensive Loadout: Nano shields, Ablative Armor, Structural Integrity Field, Extensive Jamming and ECM systems, Areal Urshan Clocking Device, Advanced Shield Capacitators, SmartMetal.

Power Systems: Huge Qaudo-based Fusion Reactor, Wexxian Zero Tech.

Engines: Plasma Impulse Sublight Engines, Hypderdrive, dimensional generators (very unstable)

Information: This massive modern space ship is the dread of space. Forged with the united technology of many races and the Urshans’ battle spirit.

Urshan Comet:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/d/d5/Comet.jpg/729px-Comet.jpg)

Primary Weaponry: 4 Small fusion cannons, created with the super advanced Thoon technology, masters of physics. Electrons inriched cloud, can melt metals and Jam spaceships, quite powerful but costs a lot of energy.

Crew: 15~

Secondary Weapons: point defense laser cannons, antimatter bombs.

Defensive Loadout: Nano shields, Ablative Armor, Structural Integrity Field, Extensive Jamming and ECM systems, Urshan Clocking Device, Advanced Shield Capscitators.

Power Systems: Central Fusion Reactor, Wexxian Zero Tech.

Engines: Plasma Impulse Sublight Engines, Hypderdrive,.

Information: A tiny space vessel that is released in great masses. They are perfect for commando missions, and against very large space ships.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 07, 2006, 08:32:56 am: I really like thesem paticularaly the Dreadnought.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on December 07, 2006, 11:28:46 am: I like the Urshan Comet :D They look so cute piloting it :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 07, 2006, 11:41:13 am: Hehe, I guess you are right. I knew I shouldn’t have made them look so much like care bears :).

By the way all those cables and strings in the background are actually coming out of their helmets. They navigate the space ship mainly by using their Kia through those helmets allowing them to focus the Sharo on more important things like coordinates, and tactical decisions.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on December 07, 2006, 12:17:10 pm: awesome!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: a14gt on December 07, 2006, 12:23:40 pm: nice, can't wait to see space combat.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 15, 2006, 11:15:52 am: Biology and Evolution in Niho.

One can’t talk about a sentient creature and its culture and way of life without telling from whom this creature evolved, and about the surrounding world of this creature. So I bring you back in a journey through the history of life in Niho, and also giving you a little background on biology in Niho for later when I will post some Niho wildlife.

Lets begin:

All life in Niho is divided into 11 main families. The Microorganisms, The Mushrylians, the Stuffed Plants, the Advanced Plants, the Wormlings, the Rigid Aquatic, the Sailors, the Jetters, the Spiked, the Twistlings and the Furry. The Urshan race is part of the Furry family. This chart shows the evolution of all those different families. The thicker the line is the more members of the family are ruling the planet. The chart shows the evolution from the beginning of life in Niho up to the days when the Urshans gained sentience:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/2/24/Evoultion_on_Niho_divided_to_groups.jpg)

Now for a little information about every family:

Microorganisms:
Like here on earth, life in Niho started from simple single cells. Those cells evolved into all the variety of life in Niho. The members of this family can be quite different and contain: germs, photosynthetic creatures, protista, and all other microscopic beings in Niho. No planet can survive without those creatures at the bottom of its food chain.

The Mushrylians:
Similar to the earth mushrooms most of the members of this family are not photosynthetic. They usually feed on rotting meat and microorganisms. It seems that all along the evolution in Niho these creature were dominant. They usually have either a crystal like appearance or other polygenic forms. They have limited motion though a small group of them can move in the water.

The Stuffed Plants:
The early big photosynthetic creatures that once ruled Niho and were the basic food of all herbivores. Like the regular plants they use light to gain energy and are motionless. They got their name because they are usually spongy and look from the inside like they are stuffed. They have a round shape and few or no leaves. Later they were pushed to the corners by the advanced plants and in the modern days they were only common in problematic areas like deserts or mountains.

The Advanced Plants:
For most of the time the Stuffed plants ruled Niho. It seems there was no need for new plants to rule the world as the stuffed plants did it so good for so long. And then as it always happens in evolution the new kid arrived. A serious of mutations over millions of years created longer plants, with hard barks and lots of leaves. These plants came in various shapes, from trees to weeds. Since then the stuffed plants never recovered.

The Wormlings:
This family is the ancestors of all the “animalia” in Niho. Though they are most common in the seas they can also be found in the future on land. These worm like creatures have a single feeding output and breathing hole and reproduce asexually. They have a soft skin and very primitive internal organs without any spine or skeleton.

The Rigid Aquatic:
These ancient creatures could only be found in the depth of the oceans. They have a powerful exoskeleton that allows them to survive the pressures of the deeps. They are not great swimmers and usually feed on microorganisms and their powerful armor can protect them from hungry Jetters.

The Sailors:
This family of creatures contains the first creatures that ever breathe from above the water. They usually have bladders or fat that helps them float and can only dive for very short periods of time and only when necessary. Most of the time they are just floating around eating things from the top of the sea. Some of them move using the winds and therefore they are named Sailors. They were very damaged when the Jetters appeared and start feeding on them but the future generation developed various tricks to stay alive. They have evolved a spine and a very primitive skeleton. They breathe through the breathing hatches.

The Jetters:
A very successful family of creatures that still rules the oceans. These creatures have a full skeleton and spine and are quite advanced. Like the Sailors they are named after their locomotion system. They use jets of water they swallow and release to move quite fast when needed. The Jetters come in all sizes and shapes. From creatures the size of a needle to colossal sea monsters. The Jetter converted the breathing hatches back to breathing gills.

The Spiked:
These creatures evolved from the Rigid Aquatics not the Sailors or the Jetters and therefore are quite different. They were the first to colonize the land and have breathing holes instead of breathing hatches. They have a spine as well as an exoskeleton. They got their name because their exoskeleton is usually very spiky. They lay eggs and are much more intelligent than any creature that walked before them.

The Twistlings:
The Twistlings are a true story of successes and if the Furry wouldn’t be so successful they would probably rule Niho. The Twisltings evolved the breathing hatches again and have a very flexible and powerful skeleton. They come in very bizarre shapes and usually have very long and thin bodies and limbs. They are very intelligent and live in packs. They have many scales and they give birth to larvae.

The Furry:
The most successful creature family on Niho and the family the Urshans belong to. These creatures are very intelligent, have powerful skeletons and are the true rulers of the land though some of them also colonize the waters and the skies. They family got the name because 85% of its members have fur but 15% don’t even have hair or anything related. Most of the family members have 4 limbs but not all of them.

Coming Next: Creatures of Niho and Wonders of the World.

Comments would be more than welcomed. Especially advises or criticism.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Arachoid on December 15, 2006, 08:25:36 pm: Whenever I see, hear, or think of Urshans I always think of the Redwall novels. They're my favorite series. Partially becuase badgers brutally mame small furry animals, but overall they are really good.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 16, 2006, 02:11:20 am: Man when I was a little younger I really loved those books. I don't see a lot of conection to the Urshans but sure :P.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Arachoid on December 16, 2006, 03:30:25 pm: Those are all I read. Ever. Becasue of all the badger violence. But I connect them to the Urshans becasue of their appearance. They are mammals, they are unatural (that is, don't truly occur, as far as we know), and they both have sapience. And, I always pictured the Gousim Shrews like an Urshan, but bipedal.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 17, 2006, 09:23:05 am: Poka Worm:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/f/fd/Ground_Wormling.jpg)

Though most wormlings are tiny aquatic creatures the Poka Worm is a real irregular. This worm is about 6 cm long. Like all members of its family it has a single hole that it breathes eats and releases feces from, under its tentacles. It reproduces asexually by releasing its small ball like tail. This tail grows into a new Poka worm after a few days. It has a huge fake eye on its forehead in order to scare predators. It feeds on microorganisms on the ground, certain Mushrylians and a few plants, especially stuffed plants. It has an extremely primitive neural system and no brain or neural center but a tiny one that gathers the information from its facial senses like sight and smell. It sees from the two tiny eyes on its head and smells and tastes by using its tentacles that surround its mouth. It can be found all around Niho except on Pretak. It is commonly used in the traditional eastern Urshan kitchen.

Common Aqua Wormling:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/b/be/Aqua_Worm.jpg)
(New painting technique, a bit more complicated but I just wanted to try something new)

This is the most common wormling in Niho and the most typical one. It can get from 2mm-3cm in length. It has a transparent skin and one can easily see it’s inside long organs. It has four tiny photoreceptors and an extremely primitive neural system that doesn’t even spread on all of its body. It feeds on microorganisms and photosynthetic colonies of organisms that grow on the reefs. It moves by twirling around and don’t have a lot of control about it. It can be found in the deep seas and oceans around the globe. They are one of the Jetters’ favorite snacks although they are not very nutrient full, just mainly because they are common and breed all the time. The breeding is done asexually and occurs when the wormling gets too long. Then, it splits into two equal creatures. Urshan bio-engineers succeeded in neutralizing this mechanism and a single wormling got to the length of 12 meters on laboratory conditions!

Coming soon: More creatures! Any questions suggestions or comments are welcomed.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Josasa on December 17, 2006, 09:37:08 am: Nice creatures. Like the alot!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Arachoid on December 17, 2006, 09:38:03 am: :-* 0.o Oooooh, pretty... It looks like a tranlucecnt snake.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on December 17, 2006, 09:43:09 am: Those are indeed pretty! :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 17, 2006, 10:19:47 am: Very cool.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 17, 2006, 12:18:34 pm: Thanks everybody, I am happy to see you like them. These are just my first pair of creatures on a stream of wildlife on Niho. At first I wasn't sure if making the creatures of Niho was a good idea but in the end I decided one couldn’t write about a culture and race without referring to the creatures that surrounded them.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: huggkruka on December 17, 2006, 02:57:52 pm: The last one looks real professional. :) Keep it up, these are cool!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 25, 2006, 01:58:46 am: Thanks everybody. I will continue posting on the ecology of Niho soon (time for the Mushrylians :) ). But first influenced from Balth a current report on the empire at general:

GalacticPedia:

Full Name: The Urshan Empire
Founded: Dawn of Urshan civilization, 1 AE.
Political Affiliation: Grand Union, Honorary O.T.H.E.R
Predecessor to: None.
Languages: Urshani, Auyuelcliadic, Thoonar, Forthi, Yunimui, Reg and many others
Government: Imperial Constitutional Bureaucratic Monarchy.
State Motto: Shato kian sharotuwa dutuga. May both be translated as “The Emperor shall wisely (high mindly) reign for all times” and “The Empire shall be great and noble for all times”.
Head of State: Emperor Shio Nihon, advised by the computerized emperors before him.
Head of Government: Emperor Shio Nihon, advised by the specialists chosen by the cyber word-bringers
Capital Planet: Niho, Vii (Grand Union).
Capital City: Once called Niato, now called Niho as well.
Currency: Union Dollars, Urshan Imperial Credits (Union Dollar worth 5.129 of UI Credit, flat exchange rate.)
Main Exports: Farming products (Mainly Nuka based), The Semi-Sapient race of fungi farmers (not in the form of slavery, freed from the Labor), Robotics, Silicon, Wood (for traditional furniture), religious \ philosophical \ cultural artifacts.
Main Imports: Arms and genetic surgery, from UTR. Wexxian Steel, from Wexxians. Thoon scientific and fusion based instruments, the Thoon Democratic Republic.
-Galaxy's Leading Exporter of agricultural products and herbivores’ food (Mainly Nuka based).
-Galaxy's Leading Exporter of specialized missions robots (mainly farming robots).
Military Spending: 3rd Grand Union (lately rising), 10th Known Galaxy (Especially since the creation of the GUM)
Capital Punishment? Yes, Treason against empire or emperor.
Corporal Punishment? No.
Self Sufficient? 93%
Energy: 12% Geothermal, 21% Solar, 59% Cold Fusion Based and nuclear, 4% Oils, 4% other.
State Religion: The Rise religion. Still free religion.
Soveriegnity Recognised By: All in Contact.
Territories: Vast Urshan Empire territory, Ex-Rebel colonies that were conquered, The territory of the ex-Labor, shared Seream system.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 26, 2006, 03:52:44 am: Nice. I never realised how much Urshans exported!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 31, 2006, 12:16:04 pm: After covering the first animals that evolved on Niho, the Aquatic Worms, it is time for the very first group of creatures that evolved from the microorganisms, the Mushrylians.

Examples for Mushrylians:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/9/98/Common_SpikeShell.jpg/562px-Common_SpikeShell.jpg)

The Common SpikeShell:
This Mushrylian is one of the most common and basic Mushrylians. Like most Mushrylians the SpikeShell is an aquatic organism with a very slight ability of movement that includes cell movements and the movement of a central organ that acts like a primitive mouth and drains microorganisms from the water. It has no sensory organs but 4 rows of 10 bright green photoreceptors. The spikes are mainly used to intimidate creatures from trying to eat it, although even if someone will try to do so it really doesn’t worth it because of its extremely hard shell-like skin. It is about the size of a baseball. Some types of SpikeShells have nerve poison in their spikes. The Common SpikeShell is considered a delicates food for the rich and royal in the Urshan because cooking it is so difficult and it has a very sour exotic taste.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/1/16/Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg/634px-Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg)

The Stalactite Mushrylian:
Although most Mushrylians are underwater creatures there a few species that can be found in moist land areas like swamps and tropical lands. They cannot move at all and feeds on corpses, plants and microorganisms from the ground and air. The light reflects in many unique ways through them making them shine in a very beautiful way. They can also produce powerful light and usually does it as a reflex when something is trying to pull off the ground or take a bite out of it. They reproduce asexually by releasing the light Stalactites (that are actually the baby versions) and letting water or wind drag them away. A cousin of the Stalactite Mushrylian called the Glowing Stalactiter can even gain energy by photosynthesis as well as by eating microorganisms. It is about the size of a small dog.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/a/a6/Sharders.jpg/607px-Sharders.jpg)

The Sharders:
Every family has their bizarre member. In the Mushrylians no doubt the Sharders and their cousins own this title. They evolved quite late in history, about the time the Twistlings evolved. They can actually move around by swimming with their long tail. They feed through their skin but the movement helped them mainly for escaping hungry Jettters and other sea creatures. They can see from 6 eyes in the center of their heads. It was reported they even sometimes attack weak enemies, kill them, and swim away.
They are even slightly intelligent although they don’t have a neural system, or at list not something we define as one. Because of this the Urshans were very fascinated with them (especially because the Urshans are interested in the effect of different brain styles and neural systems on the way of thinking). They move in packs and seem to communicate by very short pulses of light. They are about the size of small fish.

More to come: The Rigid Aquatic, Sailors, and the rest of them. Feel free and encouraged to ask or coment. Enjoy.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on December 31, 2006, 12:57:27 pm: These are very cool!! :o
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 08, 2007, 11:26:57 am: Well sorry for again halting news about the Niho biology in favor of other reports but I just wanted to fill some missing gaps about the Urshan space faring history. In the future I will write much more about this, but right now just a general background:

The first Urshan went into space just after the last Great War in Niho between the Empire and Neo-Power. Unlike most races in the beginning instead of using liftoff fueled vessels the Urshans used fuel-less levitation that was based on the principles of ballistics. Only after about 100 years they replaced this technology with spaceships that can change their course during flight using cold fusion cells and mainly solar energy. For about 300 years the Urshans colonized their star system, the Hindo system. More than once rebel colonies emerged in these colonized plants and started fighting for their freedom against the empire and usually failed after many years of combat. One of these rebel groups invented the known Urshan cloaking device.

It all changed when a respectable imperial scientists group discovered the hyperspace. At first this was considered ridicules and the imperial officials almost decided to neglect the project. But they were given a few more years of research and the first hyper drive engine was created. It was extremely primitive and when was first used it exploded and killed thousands. Then the “Hyper-Empire” project began and millions of people started focusing on the mission of creating a stable hyper drive engine. After 40 years of experimenting the engine was created in 2800AE. Many artists and science fiction novelists started talking about other life forms and wonderful worlds but this great dream was not fulfilled for a long time. The closest system to the Hindo system was in fact a planetless binary system. For about a hundred years most planets that were found were barren and not very interesting. That it is until one space mission called the “Yokata” after a known explorer that discovered Pretak. They found an aquatic world filled with microorganisms and the most advanced life from over there was a weird worm like creature. This discovery boosted the Urshans xenobiology and genetics greatly and since it the Urshans invested lots of resources on their space programs hoping to found more species to talk with and perhaps learn the secret of reaching the higher minds. Another amazing thing found in that planet (now called Jath after the current emperor of that time) were very few signs of a civilization that lived in that planet and most probably destroyed itself. Their technology seemed about the level of the Urshans in that age though the Urshans did learn about computers and robotics from their ruins.

In the years to follow many star systems started to rebel against the empire, about 7% of them. The great rebellion will begin after the Halcyon war then about 15% of the systems would be self ruled.

A few decades after the great celebration of 3000 years for the Urshan Empire an Urshan scout received a message from a new alien race. This race was quite surprised to find the Urshans as they lived in a small cluster of star system with very weak and small suns. This race refused to show itself or meet the Urshans before they will inspect them and learn about them. They told them they would return later to learn about them and talk to them, as they were a little busy. Finally after about 50 years the Urshans decided they would try and learn about them themselves and see why they didn’t return yet. They send a very small fleet of cloaked spaceships into one of their star systems. They found out this race was wiped out by a weird race of blue creatures that walked on two legs. Soon after that they met all the other members of the known universe. They got a little hostile with a neighboring race called the Auyuelcliads over their shared border but soon from this hostility a great friendship rose. They also as a result formed an alliance with the Icthians the Auyulciads and the Vis. The rest is known to you.

(I remind you all many interesting things found in between these main events. I will share information about those in the future).

To come: Return to the biology of Niho.

P.S. Whats wrong with sporewiki? Wierd...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on January 09, 2007, 11:20:17 am: Cool. Who were the mysterious race?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: captainjp on January 09, 2007, 11:31:34 am: http://www.sporewiki.net/images/thumb/1/16/Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg/634px-Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg

That one is pretty neat...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 09, 2007, 11:36:44 am: Quote
http://www.sporewiki.net/images/thumb/1/16/Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg/634px-Stalactite_Mushrylian.jpg

That one is pretty neat...

Thanks :). Took me a while to paint it right using photoshop cause of all those anoyying light effects.

Quote
Cool. Who were the mysterious race?

You'll find out about that in the near future :). It would be one of the "biocat's expanded universe" races I already planned but didn't have the chance and time to post and draw a picture of.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 13, 2007, 12:36:07 pm: Woohoo 1000 posts :). Well I don’t have anything really impressing but another update on the creatures of Niho. This time, the Rigid Aquatic:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/2/28/Helmetling.jpg/464px-Helmetling.jpg)

The Helmetling:
This creature is about the size of a watermelon and is most common in very deep oceans. It can survive where very few creatures live and feed on those few and the leftovers of creatures from higher levels. It got his name because ancient Urshans found Helmetling corpses and thought they were Helmets of celestial creatures and therefore used them as helmets themselves. Its shell is extremely thick and powerful and therefore can survive the depths. Its spikes are mostly to intimidate predators but rarely, when it feels in danger, it impales its enemy. Like its ancestors this creature has only one mouth that is responsible for breathing, eating and releasing used materials. Its sting on the back of its tail is much more used in battle.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/f/f6/Colossal.jpg/450px-Colossal.jpg)

The Colossal:
A huge horrible creature that survived the ancient days when the Rigid Aquatics ruled Niho. It got his name for its colossal size. The males’ average size is 8 meters and the females’ is 9 meters. It lives in the depths of the oceans but also dives and get up by using lots of special glands in its body. It has 5 eyes. 4 small ones on the end of his arms and a single huge one in the middle of its shell. Using the fact it can dive extremely fast down it hunts its prey by falling on it and piercing though its body with its teeth. He moves sideways really slow and only by moving its small arms. Because of their unique mating system that includes sticking on to the partner’s shell the Colossal often mistook early Urshan submarines with potential mates and damaged them critically (and therefore the submarines’ form was changed).

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/f/fa/Shell-Blader.jpg/357px-Shell-Blader.jpg)

The Shell Blader:
Unlike most Rigid Aquatic this creature lives in pretty shallow waters or on shallow levels of the sea. They can mostly be found near shores or islands. They stay in small packs of about 5 members and feed on small sea creature like tiny Jetters. Their shell is only above their body and around their tails. Like all Rigid Aquatic they feed breath and release unneeded materials from their mouth under their pincers. They are used as common food for the Urshans, especially those inhabiting the islands.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on January 13, 2007, 01:39:34 pm: awesome! :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on January 13, 2007, 04:17:36 pm: My god! (I don't own one, just a way of speech!)

You're style is terrific! Perhaps new Urshan pictures?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on January 14, 2007, 12:35:21 am: These are great Biocat. You sure you don't want to do some creature for Sagan 4?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 14, 2007, 05:59:18 am: Quote from: Daan on January 13, 2007, 04:17:36 pm
My god! (I don't own one, just a way of speech!)

You're style is terrific! Perhaps new Urshan pictures?

Thanks, I really should :), and I even have some ideas. Just want to finish all the creatures of Niho first. Coming next, the Sailors.

Quote from: Hydromancerx on January 14, 2007, 12:35:21 am
These are great Biocat. You sure you don't want to do some creature for Sagan 4?

How can I say no to Hydro :)? Might take me a while though but eventually I would make a creature or two for Sagan as fan creatures. Though I tend to get confused how the lineage in Sagan works. Do you have an updated table or tree of all the creatures so I would know from what creature I am evolving and from what creature it evolved?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on January 14, 2007, 04:40:26 pm: Quote from: BioCat on January 14, 2007, 05:59:18 am
Quote from: Daan on January 13, 2007, 04:17:36 pm
My god! (I don't own one, just a way of speech!)

You're style is terrific! Perhaps new Urshan pictures?

Thanks, I really should :), and I even have some ideas. Just want to finish all the creatures of Niho first. Coming next, the Sailors.

Quote from: Hydromancerx on January 14, 2007, 12:35:21 am
These are great Biocat. You sure you don't want to do some creature for Sagan 4?

How can I say no to Hydro :)? Might take me a while though but eventually I would make a creature or two for Sagan as fan creatures. Though I tend to get confused how the lineage in Sagan works. Do you have an updated table or tree of all the creatures so I would know from what creature I am evolving and from what creature it evolved?

Its updated for beginning of week 7.

Sagan 4 - Cladogram
http://www.sporewiki.com/images/7/7e/Sagan_cladogram.jpg

Also on wiki they have "extant" or "extinct" to show if it is still alive or not. As well as hyperlinks to their ancestors if you are confused the linage.

Sagan 4 - Main Page
http://www.sporewiki.com/Content:Sagan_4

I will try to update the cladogram soon since it is missing gen 41 - 44.

Hydro ~
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 20, 2007, 10:03:45 am: New update on the creatures of Niho, this time:

The Sailors:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/4/41/Flying_Sailor.jpg/731px-Flying_Sailor.jpg)

The Flying Sailor:
This creature unlike its ancestor has a skeleton, and can breathe straight from the air. It usually lives in groups of about 10 members. It has a huge gland in its body that is filled with helium and helps it float while it moves around across the water by using its sails. It can either drain or release helium making it sink or float (it rarely choose to sink). When in danger from below it sucks a lot of helium inside and flaps with its sails and hovers for a few minutes until the danger is over. It is an herbivore and mostly feeds on seaweeds and photosynthetic microorganisms. It also has an anus and breathes from its breathing hatches under its mouth. Its smaller ancestor can be found in Urshan houses as harmless pets living in aquariums.

Floating:
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/a/a7/Swollen.jpg/780px-Swollen.jpg)

Diving:
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/c/cf/Swollen_Dive.jpg)

Swollen:
This Sailor is a much later Sailor that and the ancestor of the Jetters. Instead of the big Helium bags in its body it has two helium sacks in its cheeks (under them are the breathing hatches). Most of the time like its ancestor it floats around with its head out and eats tiny Sailors or other creatures. When it sees a possible prey (usually a small Jetter) it releases all gas from its sacks and dives in. This creature is truly an irregular in the Sailors family.

Coming Up Next: Stuffed and Advanced Plants, The Jetters.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on January 20, 2007, 10:55:46 am: Very cool and original.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Xenomorph on January 20, 2007, 11:15:24 am: cyyyyyuuuuuwwwt! especially the one under water! :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 20, 2007, 03:47:42 pm: Thanks.

Quote from: xenomorph on January 20, 2007, 11:15:24 am
cyyyyyuuuuuwwwt! especially the one under water! :D

Yeah :), at first they were supposed to be the Urshans' favorite pets but I decided to save this position for more advanced creatures.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 23, 2007, 11:34:59 am: Another Update, this on Urshan culture (don’t worry I will soon return to the creatures of Niho).

Ceremonial Markings:
This ancient tradition started in the continent of Sorer by the western Urshans about 1000BE, perhaps even before. It was fully adapted and became successful in the continent of Western Sian. This tradition began in a religious ceremony done by the Balance Shamans but soon also the rulers and tribe leaders started using it. In about 200AE when the empire ruled many of the western parts of Sian eastern nobles also used the markings. The first emperor to adapt them was Totowa Chano the Spiritual and since then they are used in any important ceremonies or events, mainly by the emperor and his advisors.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/8/80/UrshanMark1.jpg/594px-UrshanMark1.jpg)
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/9/9a/UrshanMark2.jpg/603px-UrshanMark2.jpg)
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/4/4e/UrshanMark3.jpg/594px-UrshanMark3.jpg)
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/0/0d/UrshanMark4.jpg/594px-UrshanMark4.jpg)
(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/7/71/UrshanMark5.jpg/594px-UrshanMark5.jpg)(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/c/c6/UrshanMark6.jpg/594px-UrshanMark6.jpg)
(Sorry for the quality, did a few mistakes. Would be changed soon hopefully)

There are many different kinds of markings, about 250. Because one can mix them and wear more than one there are hundred of thousands of options. Here are the five main markings:

Two red stripes: Formal yet joyful. This marking was mainly used in meetings with other nations (and races in the future). It symbolizes the will of the Urshan Empire to provide happiness to its citizen’s followers and friends. The red color was originally produced mostly from animal blood.

Brown Circle: Sorrow and lost. This marking is the only marking that is also used by the commons after an Urshan close to you dies or any other sad thing happiness to you. Emperors usually wear this marking in very extreme political
cases or after losing a relative. The color was originally created from a mix of mud dust and resin.

Two dark red dots and a red line: Justice or war. This marking is mainly used before or during war or justice making. It is said to be one of the newest signs and rumors say it was invented around 650AE when the empire fought the new empire. It was also produces from animal blood.

Blue Triangle: Spiritual, time of preying and meditating. Was developed by Rise priests and is usually wore by the noble when he or she takes a few days off to meditate. The sign represents the growing of minds as you get higher. Was and still is produced from Puka worms’ blood.

Dark Green stripe on the eye: Joyful and carefree. Not much to say about this one, mainly used without any special reason. Was originally produces from plants.

Black Lines under the eyes: Sexual, beautiful. Much like our early makeup this markings are used by either male or female in order to show attraction both sexual and mental. Was originally produces from metal dusts.

Coming Up Next: You already know :)…
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on January 23, 2007, 11:37:15 am: Very, very cool. Reminds of an Auyuelcliad thing I need to do.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Rhodix on January 23, 2007, 11:52:07 am: Very nice. :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on January 23, 2007, 11:54:10 am: lovely
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on January 23, 2007, 11:55:37 am: Very well done :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 23, 2007, 12:01:04 pm: Thank you everybody :). I can't seem to fix those little discolorations. Will try to do it later.

I had many more of those but I thought it would be too long. Perhaps later I will add more.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 26, 2007, 02:06:16 pm: RP News: The sentence of Kowa is over (hidden from the public to avoid rebellions). Kowa is found guilty. Also president of the Thoons Jago admitted his crime and is found guilty.

Because we are under war they will both be put to death in 24Nihon hours. Jago with lethal injection as the Thoon law requires and Kowa slain by the emperor himself as the Urshan law requires.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on January 26, 2007, 02:07:46 pm: Is it possible for the Alliance to snatch him away with their Spec-Op spies?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 26, 2007, 02:09:14 pm: I wouldn't count on it. If the war was sligthly more progressed maybe, but they are both killed in a hurry exactly in order to prevent this. Don't worry, they will both get about 100 last words :).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on January 26, 2007, 02:17:04 pm: I would love to save Kowa, could we MAYBE arange it?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 26, 2007, 02:20:26 pm: We should have thought of that before. That could have been a great reason to go to war for :). I am afraid saving them means to get to Nihon with a pretty nice army, and standing two feet from the emperor. If that was possible the Urshans would have been in a very lousy situation. But you know what? If you are creative enough and have an idea that is both realistic and doesn’t harm the balance of things I will go through with it.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on January 26, 2007, 02:21:39 pm: Perhaps the Spec-Ops could use bodies of killed guards as shells?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on January 26, 2007, 02:26:53 pm: OOC: grose, no the Spec Ops can change their appearance and mimic any character or person, all they need to do is to knock out one of those involved with the execution and then take his place for a short time.

I could need to know more about the execution, the place and the persons involved.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 26, 2007, 02:29:17 pm: Hmm, Should I open a new thread for this or should we do it in the Union vs Alliance thread?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on January 26, 2007, 02:35:56 pm: I don't know, but It would be cool to get the Spec-Ops into action!

For info:

http://www.sporewiki.com/The_Wexxian_%28Concept%29#The_Wexxian_Spec-Ops:
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 28, 2007, 09:34:28 am: Finally thanks to the help Hug gave me the creatures of Niho has their own sporewiki page:

http://www.sporewiki.com/Wildlife_at_Niho

Enjoy.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on February 22, 2007, 06:24:46 am: Urshan Hereditary system:

For the many thousands years the Urshan empire exists there was always a living emperor for the empire. Since the occupation system and since the empire itself there was always a need to insure the emperor would be the most fitting Urshan for the role, and also to insure there will be an emperor and an heir.

Every Urshan gives births to exactly 3 different baby Urshans every pregnancy. In rare cases 3 pairs of twins are born, other than that there are no other none normal births. When the imperial couple first gives birth and three babies are born they each gain a title. The first born, or the healthiest baby is the Mon-Heir, the Second born is the De-Heir and the third is the Tre-Heir. Obviously the Mon-Heir is the legal heir to the throne, in case he is unable to rule the De-Heir rules, and in case the De-Heir is unable to rule the Tre-Heir rules. All three babies are educated the same for 21 years about all that it takes to become an emperor, the duties of the royals, tactical and strategically managing and so on. Then the Mon-Heir is taught for another 3 years of extra teachings about becoming the emperor, including all the secret things only the emperor may know.

In case all three heirs are either dead or unable to become emperors due to technicalities or illnesses the next three babies are the heirs according to order. Because very few emperors have more than three babies in case there are no living children available the De-Heir brother of the Emperor himself will be the heir of the throne and after him his children. When this happens the De-Heir changes his family name and starts a new dynasty (Such as the Nihon dynasty, that separated from the Kotan dynasty about 600 years ago).

Though this never happened, in cases there are no living siblings of the emperor nor nephews the new emperor would be a second line relative. More than second line (connection through grandfather) isn’t considered monarchy in that case there will be no legal emperor.

An emperor is crowned only when his father died, it is very unusual rare, and even slightly illegal to let go of your position as emperor and give it to your heir.

Edit: According to Urshan ancient law an Emperor can only be a male. Still about 1000 AE the first Urshan empress ruled and since then 5 empresses after her. The only restriction when it comes to females now days is that the female is always considered the Tre-Heir. Still there are great debates whether or not to change it completely and alloy total equality between male and female heirs. The supporters say that the sexual difference between males and females has no effect in the field of ruling and therefore it should be changed (The Urshans almost since the dawn of the empire gave equal rights to females and males as there aren’t many differences between them in the Urshan race), the opposition says the emperor must stay male as its been for years and such traditions shouldn’t be changed. For now it was decided that this should stay as it is as there aren’t many opposers because of the great respect the Urshans have for their emperors.

Coming soon: More Niho Wildlife, Aviation, More Buildings, Role of Sexual diffrences in the Urshan Empire (as always I would probably forget half of them and come up with new ideas later).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: nurizeko on February 22, 2007, 09:12:45 am: cool beastie. :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on February 22, 2007, 11:36:33 am: Complicated Hereditary System...

How did the Kotan Dynasty become the Nihon Dynasty, as you said the death of all three potential hiers had never happened?
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on February 22, 2007, 01:23:27 pm: No no, the death of the three sons heir has happened and in that case the brother De-Heir came to rule (In fact in the Kotan the Tre-Heir became the ruler as the De-Heir died before him). The thing that never happened was that a second line relative (grandfather relation) came to rule.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on February 22, 2007, 02:08:42 pm: great stuff
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on March 10, 2007, 04:00:51 am: Hi there guys. I am sorry I wasn’t here this weak, I had lots of exams and a few school related problems. Anyway I’ll try and keep up with the RP and war, hope I didn’t miss too much, and you can also expect an update anytime soon. :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on March 22, 2007, 07:38:51 am: Finally Urshan Updates:
Its time for another Niho Wildlife update, this time the lords of the oceans.

The Jetters:

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/8/80/Seaweed_jettling.jpg)

Orange Katanka:
This Jetter is one of the more common Jetters, often fished by the Urshans. It is about 30-50 cm long. Like all Jetters it moves by sucking water inside its mouth and releasing them from its back jets while moving its tail for directions. It feeds both on different types of microorganisms and seaweeds. It has two small black horns on under its mouth used to reap the plant pieces off for better feeding. It usually lives in schools of about 30 individuals that grow even larger near the breeding season in the mid-summer.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/8/8e/Great_jettling.jpg/652px-Great_jettling.jpg)

Deep Tusker:
This horror of the deeps is only compared in power and predatory skills to the ancient Colossal. Its average length is 6 meters and a Deep Tusker never stops growing until the day it dies (the biggest Deep Tusker known was 16 meters long!). Like all Jetters it moves by sucking water inside its mouth and releasing them from its back jets while moving its tail for directions. It can suck a huge amount of water at once and release it helping it gain high speeds fast for a short period of time, needed to catch its prey. It mostly feeds on other Jetters and other sea creatures, and its powerful stomach acids even allow it to decompose a Sharder or a Helmetling shell. Its unique form is in fact a way of camoflague in the stuffed plants seaweeds of the deeps.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/3/33/Jettling_Wolf.jpg/701px-Jettling_Wolf.jpg)

Hopper:
Unlike its naïve name this creature is a fierce advanced predator and an early ancestor of the Twistling. Like all Jetters it moves by sucking water inside its mouth and releasing them from its back jets while moving its tail for directions. Its many scattered organized Jets allow it to move in different directions much faster than its ancestors can. It got his name because of the fact it mainly feeds on helpless Sailors by hopping outside of the water and drowning them. It can also eat rigid aquatic using its unique pincer nails and other Jetters. Its average size is about 1 meter.

Enjoy, comments or constructive criticism are more than welcome.

More to come: The Plant life of Niho, and many other ideas I already talked about. Still open for suggestions as well.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on March 22, 2007, 01:52:46 pm: Nice to learn more of Niho's biology :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on March 22, 2007, 08:18:21 pm: awesome
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: DK_Man on March 23, 2007, 04:28:28 am: havent seen these guys before. Good job! ;D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on March 31, 2007, 10:48:54 am: It’s time for some Niho plants! First part – The Stuffed Plants family.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/6/6a/StuffedCoral.jpg/565px-StuffedCoral.jpg)

Stuffed Coralia:
This primitive creature is as old as plants themselves and barely changed over the billions of years it has existed. It can be found usually in large amounts under the water all around Niho’s oceans and except for the advanced seaweeds and the microorganisms it’s the main source of photosynthesis in the planet. It has a greenish appearance and is usually the home for many sea creatures. It breeds asexually and feeds through its skin.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/c/c1/VegiGland.jpg)

VegiGland:
In modern Niho the advanced plants and trees are the most common plants on the land and therefore the once glorious stuffed plants had to learn to specialize and move to specific niches. The VegiGlands are a good example for this. This plant breeds sexually and has tiny sticky seeds that usually stick to tree branches and grow there all their lives. Some specimens of this type even suck crucial juices from the host until the branch is drained and they fall off it and explode spreading lots of seeds. The VegiGlands are a very common vegetable in the Urshan kitchen because of their delicious slightly sweet juice.

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/thumb/d/da/JaggedTree.jpg/800px-JaggedTree.jpg)

Jagged Tree:
This stuff plant is one of the last members of the once glorious stuffed trees that ruled Niho in its early days. By Urshan definitions it’s not really a tree, but because of its size and forest like living groups it was called a tree. It breeds sexually through seeds spread by animals or the wind. It has small orange leaves on it; they are used both for photosynthesis but mainly to scare herbivores (and in some species they are indeed poison full).

More to come: Advanced Plants... so on and so on...

Enjoy.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Hydromancerx on April 01, 2007, 05:20:47 am: Cool!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on April 01, 2007, 01:52:35 pm: Your Flora and Fauna are the most fleshed out and imaginative I've seen.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on April 01, 2007, 02:09:16 pm: Very nice, and the detail of your descriptions is great every time :)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 01, 2007, 02:32:02 pm: Thanks everyone, I’m happy you enjoyed it.

By the way for those who didn’t notice the Deep Tusker from my last post’s appearance is based on the appearance of the Stuffed Coralia for camouflage reasons.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on April 01, 2007, 03:08:07 pm: Verry nice indeed!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on April 11, 2007, 09:59:21 am: Happy anniversary to the Urshans! Congrats BioCat!

:D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 11, 2007, 10:02:52 am: Thanks :). I was going to post a special post but I am not sure I'll get the scan on time. Anyway its nice to see my race is that ancient and lived almost through every stage of our fanfic universe. Happy birthday Urshans!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on April 11, 2007, 02:37:39 pm: Ok, I made it, so here you go:

Well, it’s been exactly one year since I first created and posted the Urshan here in this forum. Its been a busy year and I am still quite busy but I always find a little time to post here, add more information about my Urshans and be a part of our wonderful fan-fic universe. I am pretty proud to know the Urshans contributed so much to this wonderful community and I was also surprised and delighted to hear lately they were inspiration to many other creature creators.

When I first heard of spore it was back in GDC 2005. I lurked around for a few months when I first saw the Nauceans and the few other creatures made back then. I most remember the Kazea being one of my main inspirations for creating a creature. When I first set down with a pencil and a piece of paper trying to come up with a creature I had lots of original ideas, too bad I didn’t save the drafts from back then but it including creatures with very interesting locomotion and grasping techniques. The idea for the Urshan came to me when I read in a gaming forum a post written by a fellow talking about spore saying he was going to create a race of pandas that will dominate the universe. Instantly I fell in love with the idea and decided to go for something similar. I was pretty unsatisfied with my results and felt it was lacking in originality although it had an interesting grasping and a few special features like the breathing hatches. I decided to cover for this with an interesting culture and history and I certainty think I did. Now days I feel completely satisfied with the way my Urshans turned to be, a lesson to all of you young creators who keep creating new creatures without being satisfied with your results.

Happy birthday Urshans! I hope to see you in spore before your next birthday!

P.S. I didn’t check but I believe the Auyuelcliads’ birthday is pretty soon so happy birthday to you guys as well!

(http://www.sporewiki.com/images/3/32/Present.jpg)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Jack Zetter on April 11, 2007, 02:46:26 pm: It looks so sweet :D ;)

Cheers! (Gives BioCat a glass of orange juice)
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on April 11, 2007, 03:18:12 pm: yay!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: sltlamina on April 11, 2007, 07:34:35 pm: ... :o, uhuh *stares in awe* those plants were so welly drawn, the shadows and the way it looked so real (and unrushed like my stuff)...amazing man.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on July 28, 2007, 11:41:57 am: What's that? Another Urshan update after all this time? Horay! :).

Urshan Submarines:

(http://img123.imageshack.us/img123/3236/urshansubwc5.jpg)
(1843 AE imperial exploration and scouting submarine, shortly named “Colossal L.4.0”.)

In the 18th century AE in the end of the second age of discovery after many critical and world changing inventions were invented like titanium smelting, gunpowder and most importantly steam power. The combination of this and the great exploration of the Niho and the Karir continent lead to a new invention in the sea-faring vehicles field, the first submarine. Though the concept of submarine was mentioned before in early Urshan texts the first functional submarine was built and invented by Lako Omari, a middle class retired imperial engineer in 1746AE. In a century or so submarines became commonly used as deep-sea scouts and exploring vessels. As the years passed by and the war with the west became increasingly aggressive more and more modern weapons were invented, including military submarines. These were mostly fueled with diesels and oxygen fuels and armed with torpedoes against the small western fleet. Still they were very uncommon. The first major military submarine fleets were built in about 2200AE for the war against Neo-Power.

As you can see this submarine like many before it was based on the colossals, huge undersea creatures that rule the deeps of Niho. This caused many problems as the colossals mating ritual is quite aggresive and therefore many of these were attacked by wild colossals. This was solved later by either changing the form of the submarine or adding electric shockers and other colossal repulsers.

As well as a RP Update:

The royal family and Urshan government:

Shortly after the war Fandion, the demi-god ruler of the Urshan Republic was assassinated, rumors say by a group of royalty-supported rebels. This caused great panic and terror, mainly in the outer-ring worlds and in Niho itself. Many different factions tried to gain power: royalists, communists, technocrats, democrats and even alien groups fought each other on Urshan soil. The Urshan people were left leaderless for 3 years as the republic fallen and the rule of the law became weak and was hardly felt. Urshan royalty were slain one after the other until all of Shio’s offspring including his younger sons and daughter were gone. Things seemed lost for although the royalists seemed to be winning the fight and had a vast support from the Urshan people Shio had no living siblings and therefore there was no suiting heir. Finally redemption came from a very surprising direction, Shio himself was found in an unknown alien vessel barring bizarre marks on his body and lost most of its memory (more on this I shall reveal in the future). Much about the things his remembered was kept secret as rumors say his mental sanity became a bit shaken. After a few months of recovery Shio returned to rule as the leader of the royalists and after 4 more years of civil war he finally reunited the Urshans and the Urshan Empire. The new Urshan Empire was much stricter than before, many civil rights were taken from the civilians, and many opposing parties were crushed, but finally order was resorted. Meanwhile Shio’s wife got pregnant and gave birth to a new triplet of future heirs. Shortly after he regained control Shio agreed to sign the pact and make the Urshan Empire part of the new union.

Enjoy, coments are more than welcomed.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Blarg on July 28, 2007, 04:41:13 pm: LOVE your stuff, it's all so beutifully done.

Question, though. When are we going to start seeng the "Advanced Plants" and the "Furries".

And no, I DON'T mean that kind of furry, I mean the group of animals on your planet.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on July 28, 2007, 04:53:16 pm: Thanks! always happy to please the fans :).

And that's indeed a very good question. It seems I always tend to put Niho’s wildlife aside and post about something else in between, cutting the flow. But fear not, for I am always up for your requests as one of the main reasons I post more information about my Urshans is for the viewers, and therefore stay tuned as the advanced plants would probably be my next update and shall come sometime this week and after that the rest of the land walkers: the Spiked, the Twistlings and finally the Furries (on which I’ll probably post the most creatures including the Urshan's closest living ancestor as I promised about a year ago :P).
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on July 29, 2007, 03:25:37 am: Very cool, looking forward to next update.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 03, 2007, 03:41:27 pm: Again a few month late another Urshan update, as promised more on Niho’s fauna and flora - the Advanced Plants!

(Man I hate coloring! Curse the inventor of color-sight… Arg)

(http://images.wikia.com/spore/images/thumb/2/20/Wavering_Seaweed.jpg/600px-Wavering_Seaweed.jpg)

Wavering Seaweed:

This simple looking creature is in fact one of the most basic organisms the life on planet Niho is based on and lies at the base of the marine food chain along with other seaweeds and microorganism. Both it and its larger forest like cousins are the most common seaweeds in Niho taking the stuffed Coralia’s ecological niches and driving it mainly to coastal and island-full oceans. Not much more to say about this organism but the fact it has an extremely high growth and regeneration pace and can re-grow full parts after they are eaten in a few days time. In the futuristic age of from 2500AE and on the Urshans learned to domesticate this plant as well as enriching its taste and genetically engineering it with perfected Nuka genes and by that creating huge underwater farms.

(http://images.wikia.com/spore/images/thumb/7/7c/Plations.jpg/600px-Plations.jpg)

Mountain Plations:

While most of the Sian continent and the equator region both in Sorer and Sian is dominated by different types of forests and plain flora the northern parts of Niho are alpine biomes with great mountain regions with lots of rain and snow that is rather cold all days of the year. Therefore the huge forests of the south couldn’t evolve in this area and different kind of plants evolved to host these lands. While most are small grassy plants that can survive the hard winters and re-grow in the hotter seasons there are very few plants that can survive all year long, one of those are the Common Mountain Plations that could be seen all around the mountain areas of Niho. While these simple trees only get to about 4-5 meters and have a unique yet simple form containing a single huge leaf and a massive trunk they are extremely well fitted both bio-chemically and biologically to their environment. One example for such adaptation is their leaf that can produce heat in order to melt snows that gather on its huge plate-like form in order to gain lots of water (that rarely store in the rugged mountain terrain). Its unique form can also prevent it from being covered with snow and its ability to both reproduce sexually through gametophytes in the middle of its leaf and spore under it helps it rule the land and survive the hard times by evolving. When there is a massive cloud storm that potentially can damage the gentle leaves the huge plates of the Plations close up to a huge gland like structure.

(http://images.wikia.com/spore/images/thumb/d/df/Everflora.jpg/334px-Everflora.jpg)

Everflora Tree:

This tree native and mostly common in the wide plains biomes of Niho and sometimes in the temperate forests usually grows far from other members of its kind sometimes standing solely in a vast plain of weeds. It’s average size is about 5 meters while it can grow up to 12. It is quite unique in many ways. First of all its flowers stay all year long as they act both as the reproduction organs and as leaves that do photosynthesis. Only if they are pollinated they grow into big yet light sweet red fruits stuffed with hundreds of tiny seeds that are spread by the fauna that consume them. In fact the seeds can’t grow unless they go through the animals’ digestion system that cracks down some vital component for its growth that way insuring the spread of the specie. While tiny animals (Extremely small beings able to fly in huge clouds and packs that are common around Niho) are one of the main ways for spreading its powder on a daily bases the Everflora tree also uses a unique system of a powder seasons. 4 times every year (the mechanism works according to the length of the day) all Everflora trees at about nighttime release a huge amount of powder into the sky.

(http://images.wikia.com/spore/images/thumb/b/bc/Limbus_barrel.jpg/588px-Limbus_barrel.jpg)

Limbus Barrel:

This tree is a common sight in the vast rainforests of Niho. Though it is not the most common tree in the usually vine-full complex crouded surrounding it is quite common in hillier areas of the rainforest or in lands with harsher terrains like salty marshy or acidic grounds where it can prosper while other don’t. Its average size is about 3 meters while the most ancient ones can grow to sizes of 25 meters and more! It gains its name for its limb-full appearance and wide hard trunk. It has a unique leaf structure as each leaf grows out of the branch end in a mushroom like structure making it both more difficult to feed on and always facing toward the general direction the light comes from something critical in the rainforest biome. It’s leaves and spotted areas on the trunk both store all of the unused minerals the plant absorbs from the ground making them most of the time uneatable. The Urshans often use this fact to create unique organic products based on these parts while mixed with the wanted nutrients. These leaves were also a great source for salt in ancient days.

Enjoy!
Coming soon, more Urshan Wildlife – got to finish this already and get to the more important organisms! Urshan Poetry, Urshan Astronomy, History of Urshan warfare, The Western Tribes, Urshan sports.

Please feel free to comment or criticize and most importantly feel free to ask questions or request to know more on anything you want, can always use new ideas and I love to satisfy the readers.

[Also Hooray for the Urshans, more than 10,000 views]
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Blarg on November 03, 2007, 03:45:16 pm: *wakes up*

Wuzzat? An update? Really? Wow!

:P

Anyway, great work! It looks really good, I especially like the underwater one!
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on November 03, 2007, 05:20:15 pm: Great update. Your colouring is good, but you could saturate it more.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 03, 2007, 05:27:30 pm: Thanks, and indeed, I'm quite lazy I admit it takes a lot of time to paint things the way I do it. I should work on my technique so it would be more accurate yet swifter.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Dr. Croccer on November 03, 2007, 05:28:34 pm: Nice, I like the drawing style you use.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: KingAcer on November 04, 2007, 03:28:23 am: Quote from: Dr. Croccer on November 03, 2007, 05:28:34 pm
Nice, I like the drawing style you use.
Me too :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 04, 2007, 05:35:14 am: Thanks all, though I'm not a registered artist in our list I'm always willing to help those unable to draw their creatures if they request and I have the time.

By the way general question, is it too late to add a poll to the thread? I can't find the way to do it for some reason...
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Yannick on November 04, 2007, 05:36:59 am: Great creatures, my favourite is the Mountain Plation. Looks like a shower :-p
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 16, 2007, 04:08:29 pm: Not much of an update, defiantly not more Niho’s wildlife I fear. Still I give you the current Urshan flag:

(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/a/ab/UrshanFlag.jpg/460px-UrshanFlag.jpg)

The Flag of the Enlightened Urshan Empire aka The Urshan Empire province of the Enlightened Union.

The flag represents different features of the Urshan Empire. The purple and white colors are commonly used by the Urshans for they have UV vision and also for these are the colors of the Urshan fur. The upside down sliced divided triangle is a known Urshan Rise symbol of ancient origin representing the three minds their importance and the aspiration to grow into the highest mind. As you can see the part representing the Kia, highest mind, is the largest and highest. Finally I assume most of you recognize the symbol behind the triangle, the recent addition to the flag after the Enlightening Union was created, the symbol of inner and inter-provincial union.

Enjoy, coming hopefully soon the rest of Niho’s wildlife and lots of other things I promised, perhaps even a poll.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: Daan on November 25, 2007, 10:25:49 am: (http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k286/Aeven/urshanflag.jpg)

A little present from you to me :) I used the common Ring of Unity theme, but the rings are of different colour, and where they meet, they are white, symbolising acceptance and compromise, the same colour as the rise symbol :D
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on November 25, 2007, 02:16:02 pm: Thanks man! Yeah one can easily see I'm no Photoshop master that’s for sure. Really appreciate it.
Title: Re: New Creature - The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 13, 2007, 12:05:38 pm: Hi everybody, another update of Niho’s ecology! This time the Spiked Kingdom!

(http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/3/34/PlateViner.jpg/600px-PlateViner.jpg)

PlateViner:
This spiked is a member of the “midget-spiked” family, a family of much smaller spiked that evolved later when the Twistlings became dominant in Niho. The PlateViner can only be found in the great mountains of Niho where the common Plation plant rules. The PlateViner is very small and light and therefore doesn’t activate the “water release” instinct of the plant and can stay on it through out its life. In fact only the males leaves the plant to reproduce once every few months by going to other Plations and searching for females. When the female gives births she lays all the eggs in a single Plation and leaves it. Then when the eggs hatch all the siblings take care of each other and work as a group until they are too big and some of them leave the “nest”. The Viner mainly hunts other “midget-spiked” and tiny organisms that visit the Plations by camouflaging itself as one of the vines and when the prey arrives grabbing it with its spiky arms and sometimes even drowning it.

(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/0/0a/Ramming_Thornak.jpg/600px-Ramming_Thornak.jpg)

Ramming Thornak:
The Ramming Thornak is an herbivore that roams around in the huge plains of Niho. They get from 70cm-120cm in average and are quite passive to other creatures. They are heavily protected by a massive spiked armor and therefore very few animals can feed on them. They feed on the massive fields of weeds that can be found all around the vast plains and suck their way through it using a beak like skeletal organ in the shape of a tube called “vacuum bone”. They have four pairs of deep red eyes that can see quite poorly and an amazing taste sense. They have lots of breathing holes all over their armors. In the mating season one can easily see Thornak males bashing and ramming each other, sometimes to death, in order to win the mating right.

(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/e/e8/Tokotar.jpg)

Tokotar:
Tokotar, or Shadow Spawn in Urshan language, is a viscous lurking predator that calls the massive rainforests of central Niho home. They live in small packs of about 5 members for the first years of their lives and when they grow big enough they become lone wolves taking care of their own, a behavior common in many Spiked. They are roughly the size of earth pumas though they can grow slightly larger. They have a hard armor and feed on anything from bigger herbivores, other predators, and even on small organisms that gets in their way.

(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/5/5d/Orange_Marine.jpg/600px-Orange_Marine.jpg)
(swimming)

(http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/8/85/Copy_of_Orange_Marine_walking.jpg/600px-Copy_of_Orange_Marine_walking.jpg)
(walking)

Orange SpikedMarine:
This spiked like its ancestor has aquatic swimming capabilities though it is in fact (like all spiked that can use their breathing holes underwater though rarely do so) amphibious. The Orange SpikedMarine can be found mainly in the shores and islands of Niho where it is usually the top predator. They are usually loners though in the mating season, or when they are forced to live near each other, they can live in a tolerant group formation as well. They have powerful tails used for swimming and wiping their preys, and powerful sharp teeth that are part of their exoskeleton. They are about 2 meters long and 1.3 meters high. All SpikedMarines have a maternal sense and often help random younglings of their kind gain food whenever they come across them.

Hope you enjoyed. (as always you can check they whole thing out in the wildlife of niho in sporewiki)
Coming next: The Twistlings, The Furry. And finally some other Urshan information.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Brandonazz on December 13, 2007, 02:37:42 pm: I love the Orange SpikedMarine, it looks like it just as easily could have become the Urshan "flying fish."
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 13, 2007, 05:19:57 pm: I think you mean the Orange SpikedMarine :P, the picture is before the description.

And Thanks :).
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Darth Grievi on December 13, 2007, 05:30:03 pm: Awesome. I've got to get going with my Darmet creatures again...
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: gec05 on December 13, 2007, 05:56:53 pm: Reques... err, fanart for BioCat. ;D

(http://img2.putfile.com/main/12/34620542812.jpg)
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Darth Grievi on December 13, 2007, 06:03:51 pm: YEY!!! Teddy Urshan! ;D
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 13, 2007, 06:04:19 pm: :o

Holy cows! That’s awesome! It is so... so... adorable!! (Damn the CareBear curse! damn it!)

The official Urshan cub picture from now on.

((Oh and if I may be picky those lines are hatches not whiskers, but what the hell, it makes it look cuter :) ))
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: gec05 on December 13, 2007, 06:05:19 pm: Oh, they looked like whiskers. :(
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: operaghost21 on December 13, 2007, 06:20:18 pm: awwwwwwww ;D
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Yuu on December 14, 2007, 02:01:46 am: Can I hug him? :)

I love the Orange SpikedMarine, by the way. :)

If the Thornak was as big as a car, that would just be awesome++! 8)
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: KingAcer on December 14, 2007, 05:42:07 am: Great creatures Biocat
And yours is great too Eligecos :D
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on December 14, 2007, 08:23:25 am: Really cute Urshan, pretty far from what I envisioned!

Are the Orange SpikeMarines' fins also used as arms? They sort of have little fingers on the end.

I love your biology stuff, Biocat, keep it coming.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Plank of Wood on December 14, 2007, 08:31:54 am: Damn you Gec, why does everything you draw have to end up so damn cute!
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Brandonazz on December 14, 2007, 12:48:03 pm: I wouldn't mind an Eligecos Suntus...
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Daan on December 14, 2007, 01:59:50 pm: *hugs the cutest Urshan he's ever seen*

Very great work Eligecos.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: gec05 on December 14, 2007, 03:23:07 pm: Quote from: Plank of Wood on December 14, 2007, 08:31:54 am
Damn you Gec, why does everything you draw have to end up so damn cute!

Mua ha ha ha...
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Blarg on December 14, 2007, 04:47:57 pm: That Urshan is so disgustingly cute, I just wanna punch it.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on December 25, 2007, 02:22:39 pm: Another update, this time, more plants variety!
(Also check http://spore.wikia.com/wiki/Wildlife_at_Niho for it all

Updated and added biomes and ecosystem)

Stuffed Plants:

(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/a/ac/PuffingCone.jpg/800px-PuffingCone.jpg)

Puffing Cone:
This stuffed plant native to the rain forests of Niho is one of the bigger stuffed plants found around that area. Originally evolved from a common ancestor of the VegiGlands its ancestor used sticky cells to attach itself to the trunk of the massive forest trees. It since evolved a gravity-oriented method (gravitropism) in which it’s growing long extensions that reach the ground and seek a good place to settle and grow the main body of the plant. This body can grow up to 2 meters high! Though its average size is about 1 meter. Like most stuffed it absorbs light from all of its body. At its top there’s a thin high tube that is used for its reproduction. It releases a great cloud of spores up to 100 meter high in a great puff (that can be heard quite loudly round the forest) on a weekly basis. Also in order for the spores to meet in mid air the cones has a hearing organ at the base of its tube that looks like a hairy suck of marbles (that is filled with poison for protection) that is used to hear the puffing sounds of other cones and release their clouds as well. The greatest roar of puffing ever recorded by scientists was of about 5000 cones puffing one after the other for about 7 hours!

Advanced Plants:

(http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/5/50/StormCheer.jpg/800px-StormCheer.jpg)

StormCheer:
Common in the deserts of Niho this small shrub grows up to 60 cm, though its common size is about 40. It is mostly found near rocks or other shading objects in the vast lonely grassless dunes. It has a lignin-based stem and 2-4 branches that grow from their top thin hair like leaves. These leaves are useful for creating moisture conditions and absorbing water from the air and in fact if one shall put their hands in their shrubs they would feel great moisture and wetness. Its form is also useful against the deadly sandstorms that use erosion to the bigger plants like the Jagged trees. It evolved a storing organ for water in the middle top where the branches connect to store the very few rain waters it gathers.

(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/d/d7/Lumpling_Hooks.jpg/800px-Lumpling_Hooks.jpg)

Lumpling Hooks:
The Arctic plains of Karir seem like the last environment one would expect to find life. The deadly cold and hard conditions left the long continent almost barren. Still in its southern shores, and in the northern islands, and even on the northern mountains of the main continents, one could find a small up to 1 meter tall advanced plant called the Lumping Hooks for its unique look. This plant has a semi-hard bark and lots of hook-like branches facing down, making it harder for the snow to catch on them. The branches are filled with small green lumps, a unique kind of leaves that are common around Niho, that are used for photosynthesis. From rocky lands to soft sandy mountains this plant can attach to any landscape and when the times are just too deadly to survive it “hibernates” by storing all of its nutrients from around the plant in its stamp and “storage spots” and let its branches die out.

(http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/spore/images/thumb/0/0a/RythemSpear.jpg/713px-RythemSpear.jpg)

Rhyming Spears:
One of the most common tree families in the Temperate forests the Rhyming Spears rule vast areas of both Sorer and Sian, though they are more common in the west. The origin of the name is of the western Urshan tribes yet it is unknown why it was chosen. Some suggest it was called after a musical instrument lost in time, others on a balance torture ritual used mainly by the deep forest tribes. These massive trees can grow from a few meters up to 20 meters high and usually shade the ground in areas where they grow clustered together, mainly where there’s lots of rain. Their massive leaves at the top are well defended from short herbivores and absorb lots of sun light while their stringy fruits are eaten in the lots and that way spread their seeds round the land. The fruits grow from their “storage spots” and therefore are usually quite rich and gain a taste depending on the environment they grow on, from extreme sweetness to sourness and salty flavors. A known western legend of an Urshan that used one of those to fly to the realm of the moons was adapted later and the first ballistic rocket that left for the moon was based on its form.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Blarg on December 25, 2007, 02:52:34 pm: Cool plants. 8)
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Brandonazz on January 01, 2008, 08:39:04 pm: Hey look, I made Niho.
(http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/9020/rotateoa7.gif)

(http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/7508/nihory0.png)
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Yuu on January 01, 2008, 09:34:26 pm: Great plants BioCat! :) Kinda curious but, what would the rhyming spears taste like if they grew... on a cemetery? ???

@Brandonazz: :o :o :o :o :o

Five out of five.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on January 02, 2008, 04:21:42 am: Yuu: Well, fleshy... :). But seriously, depends on the corpse of course...

And Branonazz: Awesome, I have no words really. I'll replace it with my own sketch or at least add it as well soon. Great job!!! And I really appreciate it. Makes me want to update the Urshans more, it seems they are more popular than my other works anyway. I think I’ll add a poll after my next update.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 19, 2008, 01:44:51 am: Well haven't posted in this thread for months I know. Still soon when I'll get the full CC I shall of course recreate the Urshans and all things related to them including the wildlife at niho. For now here are a few early versions of the Urshan made by the trial version:

First creature I made with the editor, a first attempt:
(http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7195/urshanahm8.png)

A better version made by dear Netherflare:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SpinoC66/CRE_Irshan-0681c0e0_ful.png)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v210/SpinoC66/CRE_Irshan-0681c0dd_ful.png)

Enjoy:
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: Mr. Consideration on June 19, 2008, 02:00:44 am: Their actually really awesome....not keen on the colours though.
Title: Re: The Urshans
Post by: BioCat on June 19, 2008, 06:24:18 am: Thanks :), and any tips about how you think the coloration should look like?

And now that I got the full cc I found out there are hardly any better parts in it for making an Urshan. Also couldn't find anything to look like the hatches, will keep on trying later.