Need Feedback On My Third Race

[Ankari]

Greetings All,

My artist is in the middle of creating the third race. I want some feedback from the community before he finalizes anything. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Description

The Omlaka male and female share little in common in respect to physical appearance. They both are white skinned with light hair that grows thick and have large pale-colored eyes. They both share the darlak; a patterned network of pale blue luminous markings that cover their chests, backs, arms, and legs. The Omlaka claim the darlak was the last blessing of House of Light, before they left and tasked the Omlaka to find the pieces of Daysa. Each darlak is unique and is willfully controlled except under extreme stress or unconsciousness.

The Omlaka male averages seven feet in height. They are heavily muscled with thick legs, arms, and neck. Their body is covered in a dense layer of fat that offers protection against the harsh climate of the Realm of Night. They favor growing their hair and facial hair long to cover their ears, shoulders, and necks. Their nose and ears are of smaller proportions than the rest of their body. Males functioned as the primary hunters in the Realm of Night. They are well suited for the cold and only put on additional clothing when they venture farther north of Phrojin proper.

The females stand no more than six-feet tall but average a half-foot less. They also have a layer of fat, but it is not as dense or as thick as the males. They are not as massive as the males but do have better muscle definition. Their eyes, nose, and ears are larger than the male’s. In the Realm of Night females would stay indoors to protect themselves from the cold. This is no longer the case now that they’ve crossed over. They seem as comfortable in the cold of Phrojin proper as the males.

 

[ThinkerX]

'Realm of Night'...Ok...it is sounding like these 'invader races' come from a world which does not rotate: one side sun all the time, the other side dark all the time.

Apart from that - 'Daysa'?

And do the darlak 'lines' have a purpose?

 

[Ankari]

Daysa is one of the goddesses of the House of Light from the Realm of Night. She was killed in the eternal struggle between the House of Dark and the House of Light.

the darlak glow. The omlaka controls when and how brightly they glow, unless under extreme duress. So they serve to offer light in a realm that otherwise is dark.

The feedback I've gotten is that the darlak lines should not be on their face. It would make seeing harder if the glowing were so close to the eyes. I'll pass that on to the artist.

 

[Rikilamaro]

I don't know. I think the lines on the face could work. Maybe they have heavier lids, or even second eyelids that can filter out the light that close. Or maybe the light only shines outward. Like a miner's helmet? Otherwise you'd never see their faces in the dark world they're from.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

I'm inclined to agree with the point about the glow making seeing near impossible, with that many lines on their face. If it was just one, or a couple dots across their forehead, it'd be plausible. But while the design is nice, it's impractical. I'm also curious about something - while males are stated to be the hunters, who holds political power with this culture? Is it unisex, or does most political power sway one way or the other? Do their elf-esque ears have any benefits or weaknesses? (Example: Hanarkians in a story I'm world building for, the ones with 'pure' roots that have longer/more defined ears have ones that are hyper sensitive - in both sound and touch.)

 

[Steerpike]

Seems to me that if the race evolved the lines over their face, their eyes would likewise evolve to compensate for it so that seeing is not a problem. If they were "created" instead of evolved, then their creator would give them eyes that could see despite the glow. So I see no issue with it.

Nice picture.

 

[Ankari]

@Rikilamaro: Bioluminescence wouldn't glow in such a manner. The miner's helmet is a light focused through lenses. So I am still thinking the glow would actually impede their eyesight.

@Selenhimes: That is a good question. At "present" (I am currently writing in the past of my universe) their is somewhat of a female revolution (not feminism). They are breaking away from the male structure of power by committing to a religious ceremony that takes them away from home (think of the holy grail quest that takes 5 to 10 years). It is male dominated, but females are making their inroads.

Also, I never stated they had elfish ears. Did you get the impression from somewhere? I would need to address it.

@Steerpike: I would have to ask you to expand on that idea. They did evolve. How would an evolved eye in this circumstance filter out the light from one source (their markings) but not from anything else (the rest of the world). An eye takes light reflected off of objects to discern their image. Since they use this light to see, it would mean that the glowing is the light reflecting off the objects back into their eyes.

If I'm overlooking something, let me know. I would love to keep the markings on their face.

@everyone else. While chatting with Riki she pointed out that the omlaka would have very dry skin in such cold climates. I thought of adding an increased body oil secretion to keep their skins healthy. Anyone see any holes or problems in such an evolution?

 

[Steerpike]

Hmmm. Interesting problem. Some possible ideas:

1. The structure of their eyes (focal point or whatever, I don't know the terminology) has developed such that they light emanating from their face is not perceptible because it is too close to the eye. If it bounces off something at least a couple of inches away, it is perceptible because it is within the ability of the eye to resolve that. Downside is they're effectively blind to any object closer than maybe an inch or two from their eyes.

2. The eye is structured such that the angle if incidence of the light on the eye has to be within certain parameters for the light to be perceived, and the distribution of the lines on the face is outside of those parameters. Would also give blind spots at the outside extremes of their angle of vision.

3. More on the fantasy side, rather than scientific, the light is emitted at a wavelength not visible to the race, but within a certain distance from the face the light wave transitions to a wavelength that IS visible to them, and that is what they see returned. No blind spots, but the light that constitutes the 'glow' around the face is still of the imperceptible wavelength and therefore doesn't interfere with their vision.

4. The light is really being emitted in rapid pulses rather than continuously, but the pulses are to fast for other species to perceive, so it looks continuous. A biological "shutter" in the eye times its action with these rapid pulses, effectively closing off the eye for the brief period of emission. The net effect is that while an outside observer cannot see anything happening, the eye blocks enough of the emanated glow in this regard to counter the blinding effect it might otherwise have. It is too fast to actually hamper their vision.

5. Facial structure to minimize impact of the produced light on the face.

6. The light produced by the face is directional, so there is little glow.

7. The light is polarized when emitted and the polarity is such that it is filtered by the eye of the species and cannot be resolved. Impact with an object of any kind shifts the polarity just enough that the light is perceptible to them.

Not that any of these are problem-free, but that's about all I can retrieve from my rear end at the moment. There could are other things you could do, like have an imperceptible wavelength emit that then transfers energy to surfaces in the environment, causing them to fluoresce. But then you lose the cool look.

 

[Ankari]

Omlaka Female Concept

Here she is.....

 

[Rikilamaro]

Um, I can't see her... Is it just me?

 

[T.Allen.Smith]

Um, I can't see her... Is it just me?

No. Same here....

 

[Sheilawisz]

I can see both Omlaka pictures just fine, there should be no problem Ankari- Can the rest of you see the pictures now??

 

[Rikilamaro]

Nice. Only comment I would add pertains to things we discussed yesterday. She's from a cold, dark land. Her knees would be freezing, chapped, and reddened. (assuming her blood is red) I'd add tights or leggings under her skirt. Otherwise, she looks awesome.

 

[J. S. Elliot]

@Selenhimes: That is a good question. At "present" (I am currently writing in the past of my universe) their is somewhat of a female revolution (not feminism). They are breaking away from the male structure of power by committing to a religious ceremony that takes them away from home (think of the holy grail quest that takes 5 to 10 years). It is male dominated, but females are making their inroads.

Also, I never stated they had elfish ears. Did you get the impression from somewhere? I would need to address it.

An equality movement, then. Since most cultures also have religion of some sort, how big of a part does it play in their lives? (You did mention a bit of a holy grail quest, so it brought up the thought.)

As for the ears, that was my fault. I misread the paragraph about them growing their hair to cover their ears. Sorry. ^_^"

 

[amar654]

cool race, u should stick with it

 

[Caliburn]

The darlak lines are a draw for me. Adds a twist to the hardy northerner style, and I like how the lines serve a practical purpose as well. I suggest avoiding futuristic or digital-looking lines unless it is important to the flavour; the patterns on the chest look tribal/folkish, while the shapes on the arm look almost mecha influenced.

I'm undecided about the facial lines. My guess is the glowing eyes are enough.

I think the female's clothing could look more interesting. I would also like to see the "better muscle definition".

Good luck Ankari I'm impressed by the effort you have put into your website/project so far.

 

[RedMorningSky]

I really like the pictures and descriptions. Makes me want to read the story so that's always a good sign.