The Kitlyn's of Cat-aclysm World are a species of humanoid, sentient felines. They are broken into five major races: Persian, Siamesze, Aegyptian Hairless, Calico, and Maine which correspond to the five major powers (nation-states).
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Cat-tastrophe World
(16 posts) (3 voices)-
Eric, if it weren't that you do so many really interesting and innovative concept, I would complain here: everybody does cat people. I've seen half a dozen variations on the cat person concept just among people with whom I've played around here.
But don't let that stop you. Just be aware that this is territory where a lot of people have already done it.
For some odd reason, nobody does dog people. And I don't think I've seen horse people outside of Jonathan Swift (if you don't count centaurs).
--M. J. Young
Sun Aug 24 2008 10:04 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberYour very short post raises a lot of points...
Eric, if it weren't that you do so many really interesting and innovative concept, I would complain here: everybody does cat people.
==Well, thank-you or t'ank-chew as I just finish sneezing. I invite you again to look at my Quik World Creation speech or to review it here. 1)There was a large list from Wikipedia of cat people from SF, it was only a short sample of the Wikipedia list and that only a part of all the dozens of cat people that litter SF. Cat-people are indeed very common. 2)I discussed dragons, and reccommended using them despite the even more numerous progeny. Some things are perennial: Dragons, vampires, and cat-people. So what you see as a bug is a feature.
I've seen half a dozen variations on the cat person concept just among people with whom I've played around here.
--Thus testifying that you need a Book of Cat-aclysmic Worlds, a Folder of Felonius and Other Felines...a...the bad alliteration will stop now. Andyways....But don't let that stop you. Just be aware that this is territory where a lot of people have already done it.
==Men seldom need to be told, but they often need to be reminded. Thank you for the warning.For some odd reason, nobody does dog people.
==I've done them inspired by Vinge. My telepathic, tech-trapped, Stone Age dogs that worshipped the Nine Forest Gods, and occasionally sent out parties of exiles from their tribes due to not enough local resources qualify. Vinge's intelligent pack of sub-intelligent dogs has to qualify as one of the better aliens every created.
And I don't think I've seen horse people outside of Jonathan Swift (if you don't count centaurs).
==You may have pinned the tale on the horse there. I can't recall doing one of these. Which constitutes a challenge, of course.Mon Aug 25 2008 12:40 pm # -
JohnA1nut
MemberAnd I don't think I've seen horse people outside of Jonathan Swift (if you don't count centaurs).
==You may have pinned the tale on the horse there. I can't recall doing one of these. Which constitutes a challenge, of course.There was a cartoon on a long time ago called Marshall BraveStarr. It was a western set in the future. He had a horse named Thirty-Thirty that would transform into something resembling a bipedal humanoid. Cool show.
Mon Aug 25 2008 5:45 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberThe Kitlyn's of Cat-aclysm World are a species of humanoid, sentient felines. They are broken into five major races: Persian, Siamesze, Aegyptian Hairless, Calico, and Maine which correspond to the five major powers (nation-states). Innumerable other mixes, some of ancient lineage, but all drawing from these five, fill the world.
Obviously, those nearest a major power tend to resemble that power, but there are plentiful other cases such as the Near-Maines of South Tailtwitcher Isle who are the descendants of a wrecked ship of Maines that was trying to trade with Siamesze. They share almost no genetic connection with the Siamezse even though they are in the middle of the Gulf of Siam, and hence surrounded. Many other cases, most brought on by migrations and infiltrations exist.
However, this talk of nation-states obscures an important point. It is said "My nation against the world, my tribe against my nation, my clan against my tribe, my litter against my clan, and myself against my litter. So it has been, and so it shall be." Loyalty to the larger unit is acceptable, in part because larger units are more powerful, but your truest loyalty is to the smaller unit. And life is a series of competitions, and never forget who's numero uno, and is owed primary loyalty in all situations.
This is not to say one is completely disloyal to one's nation. Its just that loyalty to a nation ranks lower than loyalty to family.
Physically, the Kitlyn are superb. They stand from five to six and a half feet tall. They are rangy, and athletic with very few suffering from overweight. They typically have minimal fur except at the 'points' which is to say fur is at the wrists, ankles, and the base of the skull (frequently skull hair is drawn up in a 'ponytail' or a liklak since ponies are non-existent in this world).
The Kitlyn in his prime can leap 2.5 times his height from a standing start as a normal thing. There are no stairs in Kitlyn skyscrapers or 'overlook towers', but instead there are a series of leaping platforms in a hollow tube in the center of the building. The walls are lined with tight packed hemp to give the falling (because occasionally a Kitlyn trips) stair-climber something to hook his extendable claws into to catch himself.
Physically, a nervous Kitlyn, upon meeting a stranger would prefer to be above them. Since sometimes both Kitlyn are nervous this has problems. Thus many clubs have overlook spots (either over the dance floor or on a balcony overlooking the street. Being able to look down on other people sublimates the anxiety of meeting someone new.
Kitlyn are typically 1@6 strength, 2@1 agility, 1@8 animal magnetism, and 1@5 the normal rest.
Kitlyn are sexually active, and aggressive, and promiscuous. They will willingly mate with a human or other near-Kitlyn species. This is not preached against in their sacred texts, or in the health regulations.
Kitlyn are different biologically than Humans. Humans have a deep heart, and a need to bond long-term especially as time goes on. Some animals may only take one mate in their life, and eschew others even if their mate dies. Humans are closer to wolves and falcons than to Kitlyn although over a short period of time, they may fool themselves. Whisp, the famed (or infamous) verser, known for his saying 'The verse is a great place to pick up girls' would love visiting with the Kitlyn.
A Kitlyn has a shallow heart. They feel things, but they quickly recover from the trauma, and such trauma is not very deep to begin wtih. So they sleep around with no ill effect.
Children, the litter, are raised by grandmothers and grandfathers past child-bearing age. Such 'grands' are typically rather young as the Kitlyn life cycle is very quick.
A Kitlyn kit is able to attend school, and deal with the Near House Area by age three. By age sixteen, they are fully competent, and highly trained adults (with the equivalent of master's degrees). By age twenty five, they are grands. By age thirty, they are dead.
However, reincarnation is a fact of life for the Kitlyn. Each Kitlyn receives nine goes around the Wheel of Life before they face the Great Purr or his claw. Most memories are rather vague and fragmentary of previous lives. Also, such memories typically have all emotional content edited out. Thus, a Siamezse security forcer in one life might be reborn as a son of a merchant family in Calico City, and he would feel no loyalty to the Siamezse. Thus the total lifespan of a Kitlyn runs about 200-300 years.
And in later lives in the cycle, sometimes greater skills at remembering are attained. This allows the passage of skills from life to life. Typically, the rulers and the great ones of a society are those who've managed this difficult trick, and were extraordinarily competent to begin with which makes most rulers to be in their seventh to their ninth life.
Kitlyn, except for very ambitious sorts, are typically not believers in 'life-long learning'. You take your classes, and enjoy your childhood, and earn your degree. You then are an adult, and make money and sleep around as much as you can. After that, your biology shifts one more time, and you start being interested in taking care of children.
Kitlyn tend to sleep twelve to sixteen hours of every day except in the professional 'yuppie' phase of their lives where they may get by with as few as eight.
Tue Aug 26 2008 4:34 pm # -
This raises in my mind the question of whether Kitlyn tend toward multiple births. Cats tend to have between three and eight kittens in a litter; humans tend to have one. Also, the promiscuity angle adds another feline factor: a recently impregnated queen will mate with another tom, and it is possible for her to ovulate again (cats do not ovulate until they mate) (hey, I'm a generalist--I hope one day to know nothing about everything), and for the queen to birth kittens of multiple toms--and it is alternately possible for the second mating to miscarriage the first and replace the first tom's kittens with those of the second. (Rather a complex and confusing sort of system.)Children, the litter....the Kitlyn life cycle is very quick.
This of course helps explain why toms are not particularly interested in kittens--even were they sentient, they could not know which ones were theirs.
Anyway, that seems a lot to ask, but the promiscuity angle seemed to be important to defining the species. I was also wondering whether nonkitlyn crossbreeds occurred, but since that would require the presence of a mate of another species who was not a verser, it's probably something to leave in the hands of the referee who happens to get such a person into that world.
--M. J. Young
Tue Aug 26 2008 8:27 pm # -
Oh, yes, there was another thing.
...reincarnation is a fact of life for the Kitlyn. Each Kitlyn receives nine....Most memories are rather vague and fragmentary of previous lives....all emotional content edited out....
Lots of nuances here, as I wonder how it can be that some of the Kitlyn have lived nine lives and some have not. Thus,...the rulers and the great ones of a society are....in their seventh to their ninth life.
- Did all start at once, or did some start later?
- Are all kittens reincarnations or are there new beings starting their first life even now?
- Is the population static, growing, or declining? This would of course be connected to whether there are new lives joining, but it would not be conclusive.
- Is infant mortality unusually low, or how does dying young impact the reincarnation cycle? House cats have large litters because the young have a very low survival rate--we see maybe one in ten kittens make it to adulthood.
- When a cat dies, is he immediately born, or immediately conceived, or does he have to wait in some supernatural holding realm until there is an available mating?
--M. J. Young
Tue Aug 26 2008 8:38 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberKitlyn tend toward multiple births.
I'm going to skip the miscarriage thing.
Kitlyn queens and toms are both rather neglectful compared to Humans...a decent mother or a good father will get their tykes to a 'grand' who are hormonally tilted to want to take care of kittens. A good mother might hang on to her kittens for as much as a week while trying to find a grand.
Yes, this goes against the 'Selfish Gene' theory, but anthromorphosizing a non-intelligent body structure seems silly to me.
Tue Aug 26 2008 11:18 pm # -
Tadeusz
MemberLots of nuances here, as I wonder how it can be that some of the Kitlyn have lived nine lives and some have not. Thus,
Did all start at once, or did some start later?==A set of all generations was available before they Fell. Thus some started later.
Are all kittens reincarnations or are there new beings starting their first life even now?
==Some are reincarnates, and others are new beings.
Is the population static, growing, or declining?==It is growing. I think I might want to add something about how the Kitlyn's are reassessing the carrying capacity of their planet as new tech works hand in hand with the helpfulness of their citizens to raise that level drastically. Say, they thought the globe could hold ten billion, but have reassessed, and believe with tech currently in development that they can easily manage a hundred billion...and that with that kind of numbers it will be easy to afford the creation of colonies in the solar system.
This would of course be connected to whether there are new lives joining, but it would not be conclusive.
Is infant mortality unusually low, or how does dying young impact the reincarnation cycle?==Infant mortality is higher than humans in a developed country, but quite low for house cats. Say one-in-three. It used to be worse, but tech advances have helped. Also, Kitlyn are inherently tougher than felines.
House cats have large litters because the young have a very low survival rate--we see maybe one in ten kittens make it to adulthood.
When a cat dies, is he immediately born, or immediately conceived, or does he have to wait in some supernatural holding realm until there is an available mating?==It varies between a holding realm and immediately conceived. The time spent in a holding realm is even more vague in memory than other memories. It mostly consists of remembering taking lots of calm naps with no worries or ambitions.
Odd questions, I know, but inquiring minds want to know, or something like that.
==I beg to differ. These questions are completely reasonable. Of course, it could be they are odd, and thus I am odd for thinking them normal, but we won't go there. I'm completely normal. Really. All the voices say that.
--M. J. Young
Wed Aug 27 2008 1:37 am # -
JohnA1nut
Member==I beg to differ. These questions are completely reasonable. Of course, it could be they are odd, and thus I am odd for thinking them normal, but we won't go there. I'm completely normal. Really. All the voices say that.
I'm not crazy, I'm just so normal I make everyone else look nuts.
According to some research studies, there are more people living on planet earth today than have ever lived in the entire history before that. That's a pretty strong argument against reincarnation, if you ask me. However, I do believe it's possible. Some cultures believe in something called The Well of the Souls (no, it's not just an Indiana Jones reference) New souls come out of this, to replace those that have died. Maybe they have similar religious beliefs?
Wed Aug 27 2008 2:56 am # -
Tadeusz
MemberWell of Souls sounds like a good idea....and one way to do the 'normal world with magic' is to have certain special areas where magic works....I'm thinking a sacred cave is the entrance to the Well of Souls from the Kitlyn's world and the Well is a border supernatural. You just keep walking deeper, and eventually you arrive in an unearthly place (which also serves as the holding area)....and if in Indiana Jones fashion the bad guys are up to something, then they enter the entrance way to the Well, just across the subuniversal boundary, and there they cast a magic spell to do something nasty like keep heroes from being reincarnated, but shove villains to the head o fthe line for reincarnation.
Thoughts?
I'm not sure this Indy Jones idea fits this world, but other than that I like it well enough. And it SORTA does give an explanation for some movies which only have magic in certain locations.
Thu Aug 28 2008 2:33 am # -
JohnA1nut
MemberEric, I think you misunderstood me. The Well of the Souls is in Heaven, or the afterlife, or wherever. It's the place where God gets the new souls to send to earth. I was just saying that it could be part of the back story and the religious beliefs, not that it should be an actual part of the world.
Thu Aug 28 2008 3:14 am # -
Tadeusz
MemberWell, I put it in a Border Supernatural which is like Heaven, or Avalon. But like Avalon, it is a supernatural alternate reality, with a normal physical walking path to it instead of some magical path to it (like Heaven where you have to die or be carried by angels.)
Now, I could sever the walking connection, and just make it one of the Borders attached to this world (the others being the Palace of Sweetness and the Nine Hells).
Thu Aug 28 2008 12:08 pm # -
--which is usually managed in Multiverser by the use of subuniverses, places with distinct boundaries within which the biases are different. There could also be a permanent Gate in this particular sub-universe, which connects to the border supernatural. In fact, it could be a round circle on the floor of the cave, the surface shimmering but dark a bit like water, and thus the imagery of the well.....and one way to do the 'normal world with magic' is to have certain special areas where magic works.
To be really weird about it, if you fall into it, the gate is perpendicular to the ground on the other side, so you can fall through the gate from "above" and wind up "beside" it on the ground. You can then step through it to the physical world, but wind up with your foot on the side wall of the ring of stones constructed around the "well", gravity pulling it toward the other plane. You would have to crawl out of the border world and then climb out of the well. But that's just color, really--the sort of dimensional head games I like to play with people who use gates.
One advantage of the subuniverse concept is that magic can be cast within it easily, but to cast magic beyond the boundaries of the subuniverse is normally penalized fairly heavily, and thus particularly powerful spells are designed for anyone who has a need to do this (rather unusual, in the main). Of course, with subuniverses you can make the rules for crossing the boundaries pretty flexible. The primary distinction between subuniverses and related universes is that the subuniverse appears to be cohesive with the universe in which it is contained (walked into the cave on the island, and was always in the cave) while a related universe usually has its own set of dimensions (walked into the cave and found myself in a forest on this other continent populated by creatures from fairy stories who said I was in Narnia). Both have their own biases.
Border supernatural realms generally have all biases through the roof, and have no relation to the dimensions of any reality. Dimensionality exists within them as a convenience for visiting mortals, and it does not have to be entirely rational. (Of course, dimensionality does not have to be entirely rational in universes, either, but usually it is. On the other hand, Musical World has the wonderful feature in its dimensionality that if you want to go somewhere, you start that direction using appropriate transportation, sing an appropriate song, and when you've finished the song you've arrived, so that's a dimensionality trick.) Generally they are used for interaction between mortals and (incredibly powerful) spirit beings, and are not battlegrounds for mortal-to-mortal interaction.
--M. J. Young
Thu Aug 28 2008 9:17 pm #
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