New race art - Horkval Bard

Aerek

I think it's a cool picture and can suspend my disbelief enough to enjoy the addition without trying to get all scientific about a fantasy game.

Kuei

Very nice picture. There are so few horkvals in Sapience that I am happy for any horkval pictures.  If looking more human encourages people to play horkvals then I am all for it. 

Sigge

Dunno if anyone said this, but might as well state the obvious. Maybe, just maybe, boobs like those are a defining female characteristic, and, put simply, are used to attract a mate? Y'know, like some birds, bigger prettier tail-feathers = more/better mates?

Katzchen

Sigge said:

Dunno if anyone said this, but might as well state the obvious. Maybe, just maybe, boobs like those are a defining female characteristic, and, put simply, are used to attract a mate? Y'know, like some birds, bigger prettier tail-feathers = more/better mates?

Yes. We should copy nature, and therefore male horkval should have breasts. Or pretty feathers.

Jiraishin

Tahquil said:

I think if we go into the hybridization path for the reasoning it opens the doors for 'I'm half-Rajamalan, Half-Atavian, that's why I'm a human with kitty ears and wings.' RP which is against canon that says ' despite your parents being one thing or the other, you are not half-half of those races and damn because of so much interbreeding of the races you might be a different race entirely.'

Mostly agreed, but there is precedent for hybridization. From HELP MHUN:
" Those of pure Moghedu ancestry have slanted, opaque eyes and wide, thin-lipped mouths, but  these features are not definitive, and some mhun are nearly indistinguishable from their human brethren."

Nellaundra

Jiraishin said:

Tahquil said:

I think if we go into the hybridization path for the reasoning it opens the doors for 'I'm half-Rajamalan, Half-Atavian, that's why I'm a human with kitty ears and wings.' RP which is against canon that says ' despite your parents being one thing or the other, you are not half-half of those races and damn because of so much interbreeding of the races you might be a different race entirely.'

Mostly agreed, but there is precedent for hybridization. From HELP MHUN:
" Those of pure Moghedu ancestry have slanted, opaque eyes and wide, thin-lipped mouths, but  these features are not definitive, and some mhun are nearly indistinguishable from their human brethren."

That's more because Mhun -are- human, unless there's something I'm missing.  They started off as humans, stayed in their cave forever, came out Mhun.

Jiraishin

@Nellaundra It's because of what it says about pure Moghedan ancestry vs. non-Moghedan ancestry. Moghedu is the cave of which you speak. If non-Moghedan mhun have more human characteristics, it has to be because they interbred with humans.

Tahquil

Convergent evolution.

Because one thing is nearly indistiguishable from another thing doesn't mean they are related.

Edit: I realised I haven't actually voiced my opinions clearly. I have no problem with the boobs, they are barely there compared to the other paintings. They are barely emphasised by the cut of the clothing. I don't like Hybridisation thrown around to answer a problem I don't really see. I still can't figure out if those are her high-heeled shaped feet, or here her boots start/finish and resemble the markings on the rest of her exoskeleton.

Xae

Bugs have nipples? O_O

Antonius

Nellaundra said:

I thought that your parents had no baring on your race or your appearance ingame.

This is (partially) contradicted by HELP SATYR: "Due to some unknown reproductive property inherent to them, their children are either satyrs or the race of the mother."

That does seem to be a single, explicitly mentioned exception rather than the general rule though. It also doesn't hold up in practice, since Satyr players are (as far as I know) free to bloodline whoever they like, regardless of race. Though in a world where adventurers may change their race a potentially infinite number of times, that doesn't really mean much.

Aerek

Yeah, I think that's a specific, RP caveat to Satyr/Siren, not a general science fact that pertains to all races.

Delphinus

Female horkvals have lips/hips/breasts because female immortals do, and immortals made the races in their own image. (c.f. Tsol'aa)

As someone who's built a rep on thinking too much about inconsequential crap, I'll tell you: it's magic. If you want to think of better reasons for why A -> B, great, but the end product is what counts.

Tarkanian

@Sarapis: question. Is there a new commissioned artist for the IRE pics? I can see subtle differences with the the way the latest Artemis and horkval bard were drawn, compared to Chris's earlier works.

Synbios

Tarkanian said:

@Sarapis: question. Is there a new commissioned artist for the IRE pics? I can see subtle differences with the the way the latest Artemis and horkval bard were drawn, compared to Chris's earlier works.

Quote-mined from the Artemis thread:

Sarapis said:

Ruth said:

Lodi said:

Whats the name of this new artist? Is it the same person who did the Dala'myrr?

Chris Bourassa, I believe. Not a new artist.

No, it's a new artist that goes by the moniker Irulana, though that's not her real name. We're having her do a bunch of Godly portraits. Her style is very different from Bourassa's, so definitely don't expect the same thing as the race art pictures (which are all Bourassa).

Also not the same person that did the Dala'myrr. I was trying out a new artist on the Dala'myrr but decided not to continue working with that one.

Tarkanian

^ Ah. What happened to Chris? Is he working on something new/still with IRE?

Beya

Delphinus said:

Female horkvals have lips/hips/breasts because female immortals do, and immortals made the races in their own image. (c.f. Tsol'aa)

This is definitely the best explanation I've read by far. Thanks, Delph. This is like, the eighth time you've rid me of monsters under my bed so I can sleep peacefully.

Jiraishin

@Synbios I thought Sarapis said on this thread that the bard was done by Chris Bourassa and not the person who did the Artemis pic.

EDIT: Yep. Found it.

Sarapis said:

Blujixapug said:

I really like this picture. Is it from the same artist as who did the handful of other racial portraits?

Yep, Chris Bourassa. However, the Artemis (and other forthcoming God portraits) is a different artist.

Sherazad

>.< are horkval bewbs soft?

Aepas

It's like motorboating two rocks

Idelisa

@Sarapis, where's the zap IRL?

Arguing with the creator of the game FTW.

Synbios

Jiraishin said:

@Synbios I thought Sarapis said on this thread that the bard was done by Chris Bourassa and not the person who did the Artemis pic.

EDIT: Yep. Found it.

Sarapis said:

Blujixapug said:

I really like this picture. Is it from the same artist as who did the handful of other racial portraits?

Yep, Chris Bourassa. However, the Artemis (and other forthcoming God portraits) is a different artist.

@Jiraishin: Was pointing out the same thing to @Tarkanian - that the artist of Artemis and the artist of the horkval bard were different persons, and that Bourassa was the one who did the horkval bard image.

Synbios

For some reason, the Horkval Bard's face reminds me of Mass Effect's Drell race.

Minus the debilitating respiratory illness.

Eld

@Daeir If horkval were really insects, they wouldn't have blood at all, warm or cold. As for me, hot-blooded all the way.
[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Jiraishin

Insects have blood.

Eld

Hemolymph! But all right, mainly a terminology difference, rather than a functional one. I was mainly here for the Foreigner joke, anyway.

Sena

Insects have something similar enough that it could be called blood, but "warm-blooded" and "cold-blooded" don't really refer to blood (in addition to being oversimplifications that aren't really used any more), so it doesn't make any difference.

I don't think this new image of horkvals should have much impact on your temperature regulation RP.

Also, the fact that clothing provides warmth to xorans and horkvals has always implied that they're "warm-blooded".