Tsol'aa Ears

Velisia

Hello,

I recently started work on a description and have been compiling a number of descriptions to make sure I'm as accurate to Tsol'aa as possible. One of the things that has stumped me are their ears. When I first started the game referred to Tsol'aa as elves, so I came in under the impression that they bore some of the same features (ears). Game art I have seen of Tsol'aa led me to believe that the ears were more like those of Humans, but I've seen some evidence to the contrary.

What I'm trying to get at is this: do Tsol'aa have traditional "elf" ears, or are they human-like ears?

Thanks.

Shirszae

I think they are not meant to have pointy ears according to game lore, but a lot of people nonetheless describe their character as pointy-eared, because of the same reason as you mentioned.

Personally, I enjoy the idea of them being pointy-eared, in any case.

Ellodin

Velisia said:

When I first started the game referred to Tsol'aa as elves

out of curiosity, where does this occur?  anyway, not pointy-eared, though they are sort-of like LOTR/high fantasy elves (as opposed to the gnomish, OG elves) in other ways.

Velisia

When you first make a character, it seems to show them as such.

Sarapis

Velisia said:

Hello,

I recently started work on a description and have been compiling a number of descriptions to make sure I'm as accurate to Tsol'aa as possible. One of the things that has stumped me are their ears. When I first started the game referred to Tsol'aa as elves, so I came in under the impression that they bore some of the same features (ears). Game art I have seen of Tsol'aa led me to believe that the ears were more like those of Humans, but I've seen some evidence to the contrary.

What I'm trying to get at is this: do Tsol'aa have traditional "elf" ears, or are they human-like ears?

Thanks.

They do not have pointy ears.

Velisia

So they do not. Thank you all for clarification.

Trey

Considering how many people rock them already they might as well, though. 

Sarapis

Nobody is rocking them any more than people are rocking dwarves with pointed ears or trolls with three arms. They've just mis-described their characters.

Aodfionn

Sarapis said:

Nobody is rocking them any more than people are rocking dwarves with pointed ears or trolls with three arms. They've just mis-described their characters.

Why'd you label them as 'elf-equivalent,' then?

Sarapis

Because we're trying to communicate to people who have never played the game something familiar about races that have 'weird' and meaningless names (to them). Elf is the closest descriptive word we came up with. Similarly, Atavian says 'winged human' though they aren't and have never been human. Should probably change that to "Elf-ish" or something.

Shirszae

Er, Atavians were humans given wings by Vastar.

Sarapis

Sure, the original members of the race were once humans, turned into a new race. Those particularly individuals were humans, but no player character Atavians have ever been human - they've only been Atavian. (well, ignoring reincarnation of course). 

If you don't like the Atavian example, just pick one of the others. Grook are not frogs, for instance, despite being labeled as "Frog men". 

Vesios

In that case, what would be their defining characteristic, appearance-wise? Atavians have their wings, rajamala are cat people, etc. The mhun are labelled as evolutionary offshoots of humans, which explains their similar appearance, but the tsol'aa have a decidedly different racial history. 

tl;dr Since they don't have pointy ears like everyone thought, how would you ICly differentiate tsol'aa from humans? What would stand out about them that would make someone go "I'm looking at a tsol'aa, not a human"?

Velisia

Vesios said:

In that case, what would be their defining characteristic, appearance-wise? Atavians have their wings, rajamala are cat people, etc. The mhun are labelled as evolutionary offshoots of humans, which explains their similar appearance, but the tsol'aa have a decidedly different racial history. 

tl;dr Since they don't have pointy ears like everyone thought, how would you ICly differentiate tsol'aa from humans? What would stand out about them that would make someone go "I'm looking at a tsol'aa, not a human"?

From what I've seen of Tsol'aa NPCs the Tsol'aa tend towards slender and elegant appearances. In terms of variation purple eyes are not unheard of and I've seen a couple of Tsol'aa with naturally silver hair.

Sarapis

Appearance-wise they don't necessarily differ much from humans, though as Velisia said they tend towards being more slender. I mean, look at both the character art images. Very human-esque. 

Jeslyn

I would consider them to be lithe (not very muscular), as tall as humans, with pale and elegant features, smooth skin, natural colored eyes, and having long wavy or straight hair that is usually black or brown. So technically, it could be said they look like elves, but without the ears. (This is coming from a Tsol'aan player. I didn't describe the ears at all)

Kayeil

Who knew so many Tso'laa were into body modification just to give themselves pointy ears? 

Dunatis

So...Satyr aren't really horny, hairy men with hooves?

Karai

That's how I'll explain Karai. I was young when i made her, but it would be a bit odd to change anything that's been so defining. Ears, eyes, many other features. As @Kayeil suggested (jokingly?), it could just be cultural body mods. I'm okay with that.

Valaria

@Sarapis maybe you should overhaul the describe system so those tsol'aa would know that they don't have a pointy-ears. or something. just a thought

Vesios

"Elf" becomes "Elves without the ears", maybe?

Sarapis

@Valaria Well, they also don't have horns or fangs. No need to point out what they don't have though. There's a reason we don't require admin approval for descriptions - we don't care that much how you want to describe yourself. Having said that, the game itself would never recognize Tsol'aa as having pointy ears, as they simply don't. If people want to describe themselves as having them though and it makes them happy, no harm done.

Herenicus

The ears could point to a fairy in the woodpiles of our tight-knit Aalen family

Sarapis

I....have no idea what that means, @Herenicus‌.

Achimrst

Sarapis said:

I....have no idea what that means, @Herenicus‌.

Tsol'aa be bangin the fairies in the forest.

Edit: That is what I believe it means @Sarapis

Herenicus

Santar

Okay, so, I just went through the entire Tsol'aa village to comb through all their descriptions(because that's apparently something I have time to do). I was sure I'd find some evidence of pointy ears on at least one of them, but there was not.

However, here's some other notable things:

- I filed a bug report that was promptly fixed.

Your bug report (detail: The denizen known as selaana6009 has a poor 

description.  "For someone with such a sweet and gentle face and soppy brown 

eyes, it is hard to believe that Selaana kills things for a living. She is 

unique in that she is the only member of the village to frequently leave the 

forest." The first sentence is debataby inappropriate for a description, and the 

second line is definitely inappropriate for a description. Suggestion: Remove 

the second sentence of her description and replace it with a recurring 'say' of, 

"Ahhh, I'm the only Tsol'aa in this village to frequently leave the forest.") - 

has been fixed.

Then I came upon...

A gorgeous blonde, Keleyn looks both intelligent and tough. Her hair is long and 

elegantly styled, done so that it is out of the way and will not hinder her in 

combat. She wears a tight sleeveless vest, giving a good view of her large, firm 

breasts. It also gives a good view of the muscles on her arms, which offer a 

warning against any attempt to get more familiar than you should with her 

cleavage.

Keleyn, Tsol'aa guard is quite powerful.

She has 100% health remaining.

She weighs about 120 pounds.

She is loyal to Aalen Tsol'aa.

You see nothing in it.

How -you- doing girl?

Blujixapug

@Santar‌ How can you tell her breasts are firm just by looking at them? Should typo that too. They can replace it with a 'touch keleyn' reaction.

Achimrst

Blujixapug said:

@Santar‌ How can you tell her breasts are firm just by looking at them? Should typo that too. They can replace it with a 'touch keleyn' reaction.

Immediately followed by a huge damage increase?

Riashain

Insta kill

Achimrst

Riashain said:

Insta kill

The firm bosom reacting in anger, the life of Riashain has been ended.