Alright, I've thought about what kind of character I'd like to have, and here's what I came up with. I don't know a whole lot about the Maelstrom universe, races, technology, etc. so you'll have to let me know if this character is suitable to be used in the RP thread. Made up my own race for this one. I went into a fairly detailed explanation of the race physiology. My general character info is listed first, followed by a summary of his race, and then a summary of my character's personal physical traits.
Name: Zaxterion Race: Undaran (un DARR in) Age: 28 Height: 5'6” Weight: 140 Lbs
Undarans Racial Appearance: As all other Undarans, Zaxterion looks much like a human, with a few differences. Most appendages are the same, two arms, two legs, to ears, as well as two eyes a nose, and a mouth all where they would be on a human. His skin is light and has a constant reddish tint to it, as if he has a permanent minor sunburn. This is due to the fact that all Undarans have very thin skin, with the blood vessels close underneath. He also shares the trait with the rest of his race of having only 4 fingers per hand and 4 toes per foot. The hands have thumbs, and the feet have big toes. Undarans essentially have the same hands and feet of humans, minus the pinky fingers and toes.
Racial Physiology: Undarans aren't as physically grand-looking or showy as some other races, but their physiology offers them many benefits over the norm that aren't obvious by simply looking at them. The source of these benefits is the Undarans unusual circulatory system, metabolism, sensory abilities, and enhanced cognitive speed.
Circulatory System - Undarans have a highly effective circulatory system which includes two hearts and three lungs. The lungs effectively remove every particle of oxygen from the air that filters through them to maximize each breath and keep the blood very rich with oxygen at all times. This is necessary because of the unusually high heart rate of the Undarans. The two Undaran hearts pump blood through the body at triple the rate of the average human. This allows the oxygen-rich blood to rapidly move where it needs to and allow the other special physical features of the Undaran's to function correctly.
Metabolism - Undarans have an incredibly high metabolic rate. With the constant and fast supply of oxygen and bio-fuel (AKA food) an Undaran is capable of producing large quantities of energy that serves several purposes. First, Undarans can engage in prolonged and strenuous physical activities with relative ease. Examples of such activities are running for miles on end at a fast pace and exerting physical force 3 or 4 times as powerful as a human of similar size can exert. In addition, the high metabolic rates of Undarans allow them to be physically resilient to illnesses and let them generate large amounts of heat to keep warm in very cold climates (and even let them heat up entire rooms by themselves when need be to keep others warm). Also, they can heal wounds much more quickly than humans and are even capable of regenerating lost body parts if given enough time. The high metabolic rate of Undarans also make it so the whole race is quite slim and, some might say, delicate-looking, despite their innate strength and physical resilience.
Sensory Abilities - Due to the Undaran circulatory system, all Undaran sensory abilities (which include the 5 human senses; sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch) are much more keen and sensitive than the average human's. Undarans can see fine in very dark environments, and can still make out shapes and surfaces in pitch black, although at that point depth perception suffers a significant amount. Undarans can hear energy waves both above and below the spectrum of human, and even canine hearing. In pitch black, and Undaran actually get's more use out of their ability to hear than their ability to see, as they can get a fairly accurate measure of depth perception by carefully listening to sound waves reverberating off of their surroundings. That, combine with their sight, allows them to operate in complete darkness just fine. In addition, Undarans can smell with the effectiveness of a bloodhound. Their ability to identify and locate even the faintest of smells is remarkable. The nerve endings that register taste and touch are also enhanced, and it's said that Undarans can actually feel the energy inside technological devices when they operate them, and can determine heat levels in what they touch with incredible accuracy.
Enhanced Cognitive Speed - Perhaps the largest advantage that the physiology of Undarans grants is the gift of unparalleled cognitive speed. The steady and rich supply of oxygen and fuel that the circulatory system provides allows Undarans to undertake great mental feats. First, Undarans can process information very quickly, making them excel at activities that require a large amount of mental acuity and precision. Their spacial awareness, tactical thought, and mathematical resolution is unmatched by most other races. The speed at which Undarans can process information and make decisions grant them an almost unnatural responsive time, granting them unparalleled reflexes. Their abnormally keen senses further enhances their ability to see into a situation and make quick, good judgment about what actions to take. It is speculated that the Undaran mind processes so much information so quickly, that they have developed a sort of "precognition" and can sense danger and act almost before they actually know what's going on.
Physical Drawbacks - Although there are many benefits that the Undaran anatomy offers that race, there are inevitably some drawbacks that their physiology imposes upon them as well. Due to their high metabolic rates, Undarans need to consume bio-fuel every couple of hours to operate at their maximum effectiveness. A hungry Undaran quickly loses it's normal abilities as it's level of fuel with which to synthesize the energy needed to maintain those abilities decreases. In fact, an Undaran who hasn't eaten for a few days becomes less physically capable than a human who hasn't eaten for the same amount of time. Also, due to the great mental and physical demands of an Undaran's anatomy, they must sleep more often than a human. Although they don't have to sleep as long as a human (usually only 2 or 3 hours at a time), an Undaran must sleep 2 or even 3 times during the course of a day to retain maximum effectiveness. An Undaran who doesn't get the required amount of sleep loses much of their cognitive acuteness, and suffers some as well with their physical aspects. An Undaran can only go for a couple days without sleep before their minds just shut down and slip into unconsciousness. If that happens, and Undaran is essentially in a coma until they get at least 12 hours of consecutive sleep. Due to the incredibly keen hearing of Undarans, loud sudden noises can disorient them for a short time, and energy on bandwidths too high or too low for humans to hear can irritate them, if not inflict pain upon them at times when the frequency and power of the energy is strong. Also, their sensitive taste palettes restrict them on what kinds of foods they will willingly eat. Foods that humans might regard as sour, spicy, and exceptionally sweet tend to be repulsive to Undarans. Undarans typically stick with bland food that doesn't irritate their palettes. Since Undarans have sensitive eyes as well, bright lights can irritate them, and sudden powerful bursts of light can even blind them, although they regenerate their damaged eyes with no problem given the proper rest and bio-fuel. When in situations where excessive amounts of light are present, Undarans can simply close their eyes and navigate via sound just fine. The only problem with this method of awareness is that not are they hindered in that they can't differentiate different shades on flat surfaces (such as writing in a book, or buttons on a flat computer pad) but their "echo-location" is useless when navigating a ship in space, since the sound waves don't reverberate through space and reveal where other ships or objects in space are.
Additional Physical Info If the situation calls for it, and Undaran can force their bodies to suppress their natural processes, and nearly shut down. This technique is typically only used in dire situations. An Undaran is capable of not eating, not sleeping, and even not breathing, for extended periods of time by willing their bodies to shut down all but the most basic physiological processes needed to sustain themselves. In this situation, Undarans can move around as needed, but do so slowly and any physical exertion of a moderate amount or more isn't possible. In addition, cognitive abilities are greatly reduced and all senses are decreased to levels that allow and Undaran to gather no more information from their surroundings than a partially blind, half-deaf human could.
Personal Appearance: Zaxterion, much like the rest of his race, is fairly short and slim, with the signature reddish skin hue of the Undarans. He has jet black hair, and his very sensitive almond-shaped eyes have large pupils and even larger red Irises for trapping as much light as possible. His long Jet-Black hair is typically kept in a low-tied ponytail that reaches down to the bottom of his shoulder blades. He is slim, as is common for Uldarans, and he has well-defined musculature even for members of his race; no doubt a result of his intense physical combat training. He can usually be seen with several knives on him at any time, being a specialist in close-range combat. The loud noise from firearms and heavy weaponry irritates his keen ears, so when the situation calls for aggressive action he prefers to use especially balanced throwing knives from a distance, and well-crafted dueling daggers in close range. He completely forgoes wearing armor, favoring lightweight clothing that cling to his body tightly. This allows him to take full advantage of his keen senses and mobility when in dangerous situations.
That's it for now. I know it was a lot to read, but I figure it's a good foundation on which to build Zaxterion, and the rest of the Undaran race, as needed.
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