Difference between revisions of "Diona"

From Paradise Station Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(updated species boons and malusses)
(43 intermediate revisions by 19 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{toc_right}}<onlyinclude>The Diona are Sentient plant like creatures that grow from seeds into larvae into humanoids. Killing them is legally murder; they are not monkeys.
<div style="display: grid; float: right;">
{{SpeciesInfo
| name      = Diona
| image      = Diona4.png
| karma      = Free
| homeworld  = Unknown
| system    = Unknown
| language  = Rootsong (:q)
| height    = Variable
| lifespan  = Unknown
| breathes  = Oxygen
}}


NT has taken the position however that Nymphs are not deserving of rights, and may legally be killed. Animal cruelty laws do apply. This has caused controversy and protest.
{{SpeciesMechanics
| features =


== Mechanics ==
* No special features.
* Dionae can speak a unique language called Rootsong. It cannot be used over the radios. Use this in game by typing '''say :q'''


* All Dionae have claws, and will scratch with them instead of punching, dealing extra damage.
| boons    =


* Dionae are slower than other races.
* Light provides nutrition in addition to constant healing when not in crit. Note that this does not heal burn damage.


* They do not bleed.
| maluses =


* They are essentially space-proof, due to the fact they do not need to breathe and are unaffected by pressure changes.
* Starves in darkness.


* Require light to survive. Lack of light gradually kills. Presence of light has a healing factor for suffocation and brute.
* +200% heat damage.


* Radiation resistance. Large doses (IE: Singularity and radiation storm) don't seem to have anything beyond short term effects.
* Takes extra damage from atrazine and glyphosate.


* Do not feel pain - can take any amount of damage without falling into pain crit, but will fall down in the seconds before death.
* Loses limbs when attacked by a goat.


* Extremely vulnerable to "Plant-B-Gone" weed killer, 2 sprays is lethal.
}}
</div>
The Dionae are a race of plant-like beings with gestalt consciousness, composed of many smaller Nymphs. Their world of origin is unknown.
==Dionae and YOU==
Greetings, esteemed crew member!


== Overview ==
In an effort to encourage inter-species cooperation and workplace efficiency, NanoTrasen has compiled a series of helpful guides on the various species that you may be working with!
The dionaea are a group of omnivorous, slow-metabolism plantlike organisms that are in fact clusters of individual, smaller organisms. They exhibit a high degree of structural flexibility, and come in a wide variety of shapes and colours to reflect the intelligence of each individual creature.


An adolescent diona, known as a diona nymph, will take genetic material, usually blood, from a variety of sources. On human stations this has earned them a reputation for being 'bitey', as they will often and without warning steal a droplet from some interesting individual to encorporate into their emerging gestalt.
(NOTE: If you are a member of the species this guide pertains to, please give it to the nearest crewmember of another species)


Dionaea have no planets, government, or society. The diona reproductive cycle eventually results in the humanoid diona, in their 'seed' or 'samen' state, making a pilgrimage of sorts to a communally agreed-upon site - either a gas giant or a star, depending on the 'strain' of the individuals. Once there, they interlink their bodies and enter an orbit around the celestial body, fusing and merging into a fledgeling superorganism that will eventually grow to the size of a space station. The gestalt feeds on the gasses and emissions of the star or planet, converting them into myriad useful forms or storing them in sacs and bladders for buoyancy in atmosphere, or in recent years, for trade with interested bodies.
This particular guide refers to the species known as the Dionae (singular: Diona).


Prior to this transformation, the dionaea spread their seamen throughout the galaxy. They do so by imitating the forms and modes of speech of the races that they encounter, picking facts and thoughts from minds and using them to shape ambassadors. The trade of energy and rare matter from stars and gas giants is used to facilitate the dispersal of the seeds throughout cultures, and the seeds will gather as much information as they can, developing into wildly unique and interesting individuals to bring as much variation as possible to the gestalt when they merge. They will also collect scientific information on bioengineering, genetics, chemistry and biological science in order to improve their gestalt state and therefore the seeds that will eventually be produced.
===Diona Naming Schemes===
Dionae do not have names as such, though will adopt individual identifiers when required by their environment. Usually they supply an often long and poetic description of a memory they consider fundamental to their makeup: for instance, 'the glitter of starlight across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the planet-song'. However, due to their noted pattern of mimicry and adaptation, more conventional (if unusual) names are not uncommon.


===Contact===
===Diona Physiology===
Roughly 300 years prior to the present day, Skrellian exploratory craft came across the system known to human astronomers as Epsilon Ursae Minoris during routine scouting patrols. They dutifully flagged it for review, as it was a ternary system with a triad of stars, and went on their way, noting a few strange readings from the upper photosphere of the system's core bodies.
Dionae are highly unusual amongst most organisms in that they appear to be entirely made out of plant matter. While the name “Diona” is usually used to refer to the humanoid representatives of the species, a single member of the family is technically a diona nymph - a rather small, insect-like being. The nymphs have the ability to join themselves into a larger structure - a gestalt. A gestalt can usually be treated as a single being due to the diona nymphs merging their consciousness with the larger structure, but it’s possible for a nymph to be a part of a gestalt and still retain its agency. The causes of such inconsistent behaviour are not yet known, but likely stem from simple genetic defects of the nymphs.


Only when the mining fleets of a Skrell industrial consortium arrived in 2294 did the readings become explained. A thick belt of drifting matter was slung in a wide arc around the three central stars, held in place by the machinations of ancient energy-patterning machines. The ruins were ancient and devoid of anything remarkable, and the patterning node technology both inefficient, aesthetically ugly, -dangerously- radioactive and a decade behind modern tech.
Gestalts have the ability to grow the equivalent of a circulatory system, necessary to enable the transfer throughout their ‘body’ of a green substance known as chlorophyll which is vital to allow energy to reach parts that are not directly exposed to a light source. Additionally, until Diona reach a large enough size they are unable to safely spend time in the vacuum of space as their fragile branches are prone to breaking, and their small mass requires they gain oxygen from external sources - as a result often being found on space stations or oxygen rich planets.


Far more interesting to the surveyors were the odd readings from the photospheres. Investigations stalled when attempting to delve into the immense heat and hard radiation rising from the stars, but eventually an odd comms contact was made. Preliminary analysis of the data had the scientists in fits of excitement. It seemed that the stars were sentient. Secondary analysis was less exciting but slightly more bizarre: something in the upper photosphere, not the sun itself, was very pleased to meet the surveyor ships.
A single gestalt can range in size from a small clump of a few nymphs to a large station-size structure, the largest of which are sometimes referred to as “reefs”. Once they have grown enough to equal the size of a standard crew escape shuttle they are able to subsist exclusively off interplanetary dust and the light from stars, however in order for a gestalt to be able to serve in Nanotrasen facilities, it must be able to function as the rest of the crew and as such, a humanoid shape involving a head and a set of limbs is expected.


Over the next several decades, science vessels were brought in and the strange electromagnetic language of the creatures that came to be called Dionaea was painstakingly decrypted. The scientists learned that the strange, immense structures were conglomerates of plantlike creatures, buoyed on rare and unstable gasses and fuelled by hard radiation, asteroid impacts and a kind of complex internal fusion.  
===The Rootsong Language===
Dionae possess a mysterious inborn language, which is referred to as “Rootsong” in Galactic Common. They all appear to understand it innately, though its precise rules and mechanisms are difficult to decipher. It seems to operate via oscillating signals on any available kind of wave, whether sound waves for nymphs and crew-sized dionae or microwave transmissions for the larger gestalts. A majority also seem to refer to themselves plurally (we, our, etc.) somewhat referencing their physical makeup.


Eventually - over several years, due to the slow speed of thought of the Dionaea gestalts - an agreement was reached. The scientists would take from the Dionaea several samples and seeds, and sow them in other systems that the Dionaea could not reach. In exchange, the gestalts would allow the surveyors and miners to establish habitation modules on and in the bodies of the gestalts, allowing them to refine and export the rare gasses and elements only available to creatures living in the bosom of a star.
Curiously, Diona are able to readily acquire the languages of other races via a fascinating biological mechanism. As nymphs, they often steal tiny amounts of blood from members of other species, and in doing so acquire knowledge including language and general cultural background. It is believed that during this, their feelers briefly interface with the donor’s nervous system in the same way they would with that of another nymph when forming a gestalt, allowing them to take a "snapshot" of synaptic activity. While the precise nature of this process is still unknown, it is a matter of no small scientific interest. Crew members are advised that diona nymphs may do this without warning, but also that the process is entirely benign. The amount of blood taken is medically insignificant, and the process has not been noted to have any long-term effects on the subjects.


=== Language ===
===The Diona Homeworld?===
It is unknown if Dionae even have a homeworld, as all known interactions with the race have taken place on planets with other populations such as the Kidan homeworld, or inside massive, moon-sized structures scattered all around the galaxy that are believed to be made up of giant Diona that are so ancient they have become capable of housing their own self sufficient atmosphere and ecosystem where the younger of the species are able to grow and thrive. The diona themselves appear to be unaware of how they have spread so far, however have remained consistently adamant on certain things; the planetoids that keep them safe are highly revered, alive, and protective of its charges. More scientific investigations have largely concurred that their spread happens naturally as the gestalt gains enough size and mass. A population from the Kidan homeworld of Aurum was discovered concurrently with the Kidan, but the Dionae were known to the Skrell (and possibly others) long before this.<font size="1">''(For more information on the Dionae of Aurum, see [[Kidan#A Brief History|Kidan History)]]''</font>


While smaller Dionaea are capable of vocalizing languages from all manner of other races, thanks to their fluid form, they tend to do so in a monotone or as a series of heavy bass rumbles or grinds. They come across as very slow and not very smart in Siik'tajr due to the relative slowness of their 'ear' and 'tail' growths, but communicate very well in Sinta'unathi. They cannot speak Skrellian at all due to the pitch variations required.
==A Brief History [[file:Dionaflag.png|32px]]==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:10px;"
|[[File:Dionaworld.png]]
|-
|style="text-align:center;"|<font size="2">Unknown</font>
|}The earliest record of the Diona appears in 2204, when Skrellian exploratory craft came across the system known to human astronomers as Epsilon Ursae Minoris during a scouting expedition. They dutifully flagged it for review, as it was a ternary system with a triad of stars, and went on their way, noting a few strange readings from the outer coronae of the system's core bodies.


Their own language, colloquially called Rootsong, is based predominantly on the emission of radio and heat waves and as such is very very difficult to speak without several hundred kilograms of specialized machinery. Luckily, a diona nymph can harvest the rudiments of language from blood samples and communication is rarely an issue.
Only when the mining fleets of a Skrell industrial consortium arrived in 2234 did the readings become explained. A large sphere- a deep mossy green- was orbiting a planet along with three other moons. As they neared, the ships received a directed signal from the structure which had the scientists aboard frenzied with excitement: Something was there and very pleased to meet them.
== Relations with other races==


Dionaea are for the most part entirely peaceful and compatible with all know interstellar cultures. Their preferred habitat is completely uninhabitable, being in the upper reaches of a hellish inferno, and since they have little to no use for money and a fondness for interaction with other intelligence races, they serve as excellent emergency berths for ships lost in unfriendly and underpopulated space.  
Over the next several years, further science vessels were brought in and the strange electromagnetic language of the creatures that came to be called Dionae was painstakingly decrypted. The scientists learned that the strange, immense structures were societies of plantlike creatures, and the mass- the name of which was translated to the Galactic common equivalent of “Topiary” was not only filled with hundreds if not thousands of diona, but the structure itself was alive; fuelled by hard radiation, asteroid impacts and a complex interactions with the superheated gas they gathered from the stars’ coronae.


The Vox primalis and armalis treat them with an almost superstitious respect and awe, likely due to their similarity to the apex.  
Eventually, over several months (due to the collective, diplomatic nature of the residing Dionae) an agreement was reached. The scientists would take both varying samples and seeds to sow on other planets and star systems and allow safe passage and work opportunities for the excited and adventurous of the species. In exchange, the colony would allow the surveyors and miners to visit and trade freely, in addition to permission to harvest the materials from stellar ejecta and asteroids that had collected on the surface over the eons.


NT maintains a good working relationship with the gestalts, exchanging star maps, planetary settlement rights and bluespace comms and FTL engines for various services, and many of the younger Diona have actually formed their bodies around starship components and hab modules to enable them to journey across all manner of inhabited systems.
Currently Dionae can be found in almost all corners of the known galaxy primarily within their moon-like colonies, though can often be found living amongst other races on stations, ships and even planets. Contact between increasing numbers of curious spacefarers and explorers has resulted in many similar exchanges, speeding their dispersal.


The Skrell and the Dionaea have several scientific and exploratory contracts, and at least one Diona gestalt has converted itself to a simulacrum of the Skrell homeworld, been fitted with FTL engines, and hosted explorer parties as they warble across the cosmos.
===Diona Culture===


The Unathi are for the most part uninvolved with the Dionaea due to their relative lack of space travel, but some adherents of various reforestation religions on Moghes consider the creatures as proof that if the heart of a sodding SUN can support life, the sand wastes are certainly up for it.
Diona culture does not fit in how many would consider it defined, those that travel with other races commonly adopting many of the customs and ideas from those they become closest to, while those who remain within their “topiary” moons remain largely, though loosely connected to their ancient ancestor that houses them.
The nymphs and humanoid-sized Dionae encountered by crew members consequently seem rather individualistic, at least until their life cycle leads them to eventually merge with a larger body. However, as with most species, these individuals can vary wildly, especially due to the mixing of traits from those they mimic or absorb from, despite their common beginnings and eventual endings. Many prefer lives with minimal advanced or computerised technology, while just as openly seek out items they can build or gain from trade with outside sources; their only universal interest seems to be the accumulation of knowledge and the spread of their species.


The Tajara have no documented contact with the Dionaea.
Religion is rare among the Dionae, most of them not paying attention to metaphysical matters at all, as the species, thanks to its biology, rarely faces death.


===Present Day===
While widely dispersed, and perhaps possessing vast knowledge of science and the history of the Galaxy, the Dionae cannot be considered major galactic actors as they do not act as a group. They seem content to live symbiotically with the various spacefaring peoples, and do not seem interested in involving themselves with galactic affairs, aside from certain rare individuals. They are known to be generally friendly, the residents from the topiary moons showing a fondness for sheltering distressed ships, but they seldom act politically.


=== Mentality===
However, Dionae do have a subtle yet significant economic influence. They have proved invaluable to the ecology of spacecraft all over the galaxy, their nymphs protecting hydroponic food supplies from pests, improving the growth of other plants, or even serving as an adequate food source themselves. Occasionally these nymphs can grow into crew-sized gestalts and prove even more useful. This has been the main means for their recent spread through the Galaxy.
Dionae are highly curious, intelligent (if slow) and passive. They feel pain of a sort, though in a very different manner to humans, but are only able to emulate emotion. An 'adolescent' diona will generally take on observed traits of the entities around it as a side-effect of the instinctive information-gathering and hoarding that each diona conducts.


They do not have names as such, and when asked for one by other races will often supply an excessively long and poetic description of a memory they consider fundamental to their makeup ex. 'the spatter of starlight across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the planet-song'. This has been known to make Heads of Personnel need to go have a lie down when filling out ID cards.
Due to these several services they can provide, you can find many representatives of the species onboard Nanotrasen vessels. You may even find a gestalt as your supervisor, thanks to our foreign species involvement programs.


They have no concept of personal or mental space, and those who are new to human culture tend to be excessively touchy-feely or invasive of privacy.


Dionaea have nothing resembling government. They speak about the chorus or song of a group in the same manner that one would talk about teamwork or membership in a group.
'''Remember, crewmember, mutual respect and cooperation are the cornerstones of success and productivity!'''
 


{{Species}}
{{Species}}


[[Category:Fluff]][[Category:Species]]
[[Category:Lore]][[Category:Species]]

Revision as of 19:20, 8 August 2022

Goldpin.png
Diona
Goldpin.png
Diona4.png
Basic Information
Homeworld: Unknown
Language: Rootsong (:q)
System: Unknown
Physiology
Height: Variable
Lifespan: Unknown
Breathes: Oxygen


Game Mechanics
  • No special features.
Boons
  • Light provides nutrition in addition to constant healing when not in crit. Note that this does not heal burn damage.
Maluses
  • Starves in darkness.
  • +200% heat damage.
  • Takes extra damage from atrazine and glyphosate.
  • Loses limbs when attacked by a goat.

The Dionae are a race of plant-like beings with gestalt consciousness, composed of many smaller Nymphs. Their world of origin is unknown.

Dionae and YOU

Greetings, esteemed crew member!

In an effort to encourage inter-species cooperation and workplace efficiency, NanoTrasen has compiled a series of helpful guides on the various species that you may be working with!

(NOTE: If you are a member of the species this guide pertains to, please give it to the nearest crewmember of another species)

This particular guide refers to the species known as the Dionae (singular: Diona).

Diona Naming Schemes

Dionae do not have names as such, though will adopt individual identifiers when required by their environment. Usually they supply an often long and poetic description of a memory they consider fundamental to their makeup: for instance, 'the glitter of starlight across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the planet-song'. However, due to their noted pattern of mimicry and adaptation, more conventional (if unusual) names are not uncommon.

Diona Physiology

Dionae are highly unusual amongst most organisms in that they appear to be entirely made out of plant matter. While the name “Diona” is usually used to refer to the humanoid representatives of the species, a single member of the family is technically a diona nymph - a rather small, insect-like being. The nymphs have the ability to join themselves into a larger structure - a gestalt. A gestalt can usually be treated as a single being due to the diona nymphs merging their consciousness with the larger structure, but it’s possible for a nymph to be a part of a gestalt and still retain its agency. The causes of such inconsistent behaviour are not yet known, but likely stem from simple genetic defects of the nymphs.

Gestalts have the ability to grow the equivalent of a circulatory system, necessary to enable the transfer throughout their ‘body’ of a green substance known as chlorophyll which is vital to allow energy to reach parts that are not directly exposed to a light source. Additionally, until Diona reach a large enough size they are unable to safely spend time in the vacuum of space as their fragile branches are prone to breaking, and their small mass requires they gain oxygen from external sources - as a result often being found on space stations or oxygen rich planets.

A single gestalt can range in size from a small clump of a few nymphs to a large station-size structure, the largest of which are sometimes referred to as “reefs”. Once they have grown enough to equal the size of a standard crew escape shuttle they are able to subsist exclusively off interplanetary dust and the light from stars, however in order for a gestalt to be able to serve in Nanotrasen facilities, it must be able to function as the rest of the crew and as such, a humanoid shape involving a head and a set of limbs is expected.

The Rootsong Language

Dionae possess a mysterious inborn language, which is referred to as “Rootsong” in Galactic Common. They all appear to understand it innately, though its precise rules and mechanisms are difficult to decipher. It seems to operate via oscillating signals on any available kind of wave, whether sound waves for nymphs and crew-sized dionae or microwave transmissions for the larger gestalts. A majority also seem to refer to themselves plurally (we, our, etc.) somewhat referencing their physical makeup.

Curiously, Diona are able to readily acquire the languages of other races via a fascinating biological mechanism. As nymphs, they often steal tiny amounts of blood from members of other species, and in doing so acquire knowledge including language and general cultural background. It is believed that during this, their feelers briefly interface with the donor’s nervous system in the same way they would with that of another nymph when forming a gestalt, allowing them to take a "snapshot" of synaptic activity. While the precise nature of this process is still unknown, it is a matter of no small scientific interest. Crew members are advised that diona nymphs may do this without warning, but also that the process is entirely benign. The amount of blood taken is medically insignificant, and the process has not been noted to have any long-term effects on the subjects.

The Diona Homeworld?

It is unknown if Dionae even have a homeworld, as all known interactions with the race have taken place on planets with other populations such as the Kidan homeworld, or inside massive, moon-sized structures scattered all around the galaxy that are believed to be made up of giant Diona that are so ancient they have become capable of housing their own self sufficient atmosphere and ecosystem where the younger of the species are able to grow and thrive. The diona themselves appear to be unaware of how they have spread so far, however have remained consistently adamant on certain things; the planetoids that keep them safe are highly revered, alive, and protective of its charges. More scientific investigations have largely concurred that their spread happens naturally as the gestalt gains enough size and mass. A population from the Kidan homeworld of Aurum was discovered concurrently with the Kidan, but the Dionae were known to the Skrell (and possibly others) long before this.(For more information on the Dionae of Aurum, see Kidan History)

A Brief History Dionaflag.png

Dionaworld.png
Unknown

The earliest record of the Diona appears in 2204, when Skrellian exploratory craft came across the system known to human astronomers as Epsilon Ursae Minoris during a scouting expedition. They dutifully flagged it for review, as it was a ternary system with a triad of stars, and went on their way, noting a few strange readings from the outer coronae of the system's core bodies.

Only when the mining fleets of a Skrell industrial consortium arrived in 2234 did the readings become explained. A large sphere- a deep mossy green- was orbiting a planet along with three other moons. As they neared, the ships received a directed signal from the structure which had the scientists aboard frenzied with excitement: Something was there and very pleased to meet them.

Over the next several years, further science vessels were brought in and the strange electromagnetic language of the creatures that came to be called Dionae was painstakingly decrypted. The scientists learned that the strange, immense structures were societies of plantlike creatures, and the mass- the name of which was translated to the Galactic common equivalent of “Topiary” was not only filled with hundreds if not thousands of diona, but the structure itself was alive; fuelled by hard radiation, asteroid impacts and a complex interactions with the superheated gas they gathered from the stars’ coronae.

Eventually, over several months (due to the collective, diplomatic nature of the residing Dionae) an agreement was reached. The scientists would take both varying samples and seeds to sow on other planets and star systems and allow safe passage and work opportunities for the excited and adventurous of the species. In exchange, the colony would allow the surveyors and miners to visit and trade freely, in addition to permission to harvest the materials from stellar ejecta and asteroids that had collected on the surface over the eons.

Currently Dionae can be found in almost all corners of the known galaxy primarily within their moon-like colonies, though can often be found living amongst other races on stations, ships and even planets. Contact between increasing numbers of curious spacefarers and explorers has resulted in many similar exchanges, speeding their dispersal.

Diona Culture

Diona culture does not fit in how many would consider it defined, those that travel with other races commonly adopting many of the customs and ideas from those they become closest to, while those who remain within their “topiary” moons remain largely, though loosely connected to their ancient ancestor that houses them. The nymphs and humanoid-sized Dionae encountered by crew members consequently seem rather individualistic, at least until their life cycle leads them to eventually merge with a larger body. However, as with most species, these individuals can vary wildly, especially due to the mixing of traits from those they mimic or absorb from, despite their common beginnings and eventual endings. Many prefer lives with minimal advanced or computerised technology, while just as openly seek out items they can build or gain from trade with outside sources; their only universal interest seems to be the accumulation of knowledge and the spread of their species.

Religion is rare among the Dionae, most of them not paying attention to metaphysical matters at all, as the species, thanks to its biology, rarely faces death.

Present Day

While widely dispersed, and perhaps possessing vast knowledge of science and the history of the Galaxy, the Dionae cannot be considered major galactic actors as they do not act as a group. They seem content to live symbiotically with the various spacefaring peoples, and do not seem interested in involving themselves with galactic affairs, aside from certain rare individuals. They are known to be generally friendly, the residents from the topiary moons showing a fondness for sheltering distressed ships, but they seldom act politically.

However, Dionae do have a subtle yet significant economic influence. They have proved invaluable to the ecology of spacecraft all over the galaxy, their nymphs protecting hydroponic food supplies from pests, improving the growth of other plants, or even serving as an adequate food source themselves. Occasionally these nymphs can grow into crew-sized gestalts and prove even more useful. This has been the main means for their recent spread through the Galaxy.

Due to these several services they can provide, you can find many representatives of the species onboard Nanotrasen vessels. You may even find a gestalt as your supervisor, thanks to our foreign species involvement programs.


Remember, crewmember, mutual respect and cooperation are the cornerstones of success and productivity!


Species on Paradise Station