Aulvae

A curious and enigmatic peoples. The Aulvae have been thrust onto the stage of Nadezhda only in recent years following their discovery deep within the bowels of the lower colonies many xenoarcheological digs. 'Slimes', 'Slime People', or 'Goo' if you will. While some might see a kind and curious(If oft naïve) people, others see roiling cauldrons of acidic and toxic compounds that seek to suborn any digestible energy they come across as they bound about seeking to sate a curiosity just as pernicious as their seemingly bottomless hunger.

Quick-Start Guide.

• Their biology is unlike any other organic race, working off a macrocellular structure that is created and maintained by their core.

• They come in a myriad of colourations, with certain hues being indicative of specific sub-strands.\'

• Touch and taste are entwined into a single taste in which they experience the world through.

• They receive increased burn and brute damage but sources that would either heal or cause toxin damage are reversed and many forms of healing chem are less efficient on them.

• Aulvae are a particularly adaptable species. Though lacking bonus stats from their race their homeworld provides a +4 to all stats.

• Being an organic of novel composition your body will tend to respond differently to chems. Toxins will tend to heal, anti-toxins will tend to hurt and most basic healing chems will be less efficient.

• Your flexible limbs can reach into any bag without taking it off and are incapable of experiencing breaks! Sadly, the downside to this is that your limbs can only take so much punishment before bursting and thus requiring regeneration.

• Additional quirks of your anatomy include; fewer total organs with a tendency to have slightly haver efficiency, much higher max nutrition, slightly higher NSA cap and a significantly higher need for food. Lastly, if your nutrition is kept above 50% you'll have a small amount of natural regeneration!

• Nutrition is key to a growing slime! Whether to keep your natural regeneration going, or to power your active abilities(all of which will eat through large amounts of nutrition) you'll want to make sure you're staying topped off. Don't forget that you're not a human! You have no need to eat "good" food. Anything and everything is fair game so long as it isnt 'anti-toxic'.

• At the end of the day, you are a strang creature thrust into a strange world both new and unfamiliar. Your past is little more brief flashes and partial notes of songs long since forgotten. But that's alright! You wouldn't be an Aulvae if you weren't flexible.

Fun facts! (AKA, not-so-quick start factoids.)

• For an Aulvae, taste and touch are one in the same and meld into a singular experience and they have a particularlyt developed sense of both.

• Aulvaes resemblance to the very same slimes found in the depths of maintenance and xenobio is no coincdence! Early studies support the theory that Aulvae are infact an ancient ancestor-cousin to the adorable little cancer-inducing blobs we love so well. Aulvae might respond with anything from bemusement to terror at the revelation that all that remains of their genetic line are a rare and novel pest and xenobiological curiosity!

• Aulvae come in a wide variety of colors, many of which are indicative of developmental factors indicating distinct 'strands' with particular physiological features. Though all Aulvae have a 'natural' hue, many display an ability to adjust their appearance and hue given sufficient effort.

• The Aulvae harken from a long* lost* empire* for which very little is known. What few belongings they were found with were of a make that would be just as unlikely to survive as a fossil record as their own gelatinous form and despite having been left in a fairly advanced form of cryostorage they universaly display some degree of amnesia regarding their past.

• Despite having been maintained in a fairly advanced form of cryosleep, all Aulvae display an extensive retrograde amnesia. Many are able to recall only minor but personally significant details from their past - The face of their first love, their passion in life or even the moments leading to their interment within the ground.

• With a few notable exceptions, the Aulvae revived by the colony from the archeological dig were stricken with one form of incurable illness or another resulting in their being placed within the cryo-casket.

• Aulvae can be particularly long lived, though prior to their arrival on the colony seemed prone to death via a form of crystaline 'core-cancer' that was resistant to most forms of primitive treatements. They will generally be anywhere from eighteen to one hundred though no upper-limit has yet been found and age-dating Aulvae has proven a complicated task.

Biology

The majority of the Aulvae's biology is completely alien and incomprehensible to Soteria researchers, requiring ongoing experiments and research. So far it’s theorized that their crystalline core constantly exudes their slime-like tissue that forms into shape either consciously or subconsciously, the outer layer becoming semi-solidified and acting as an epidermis. Inner tubes of solidified slime act as a reinforcing bone-like structure that aids in keeping their humanoid form more cohesive and able to carry its own weight.

Unlike most biological creatures, for the most part Aulvae don't have anything resembling organs, instead localized groups of their tissue will temporarily form micro-structures that perform tasks as organs would. This means that even though their body is susceptible to damage, they can sustain themselves with insurmountable levels of damage to their integrity, with other parts of their body acting to transport nutrients, digest biological matter or repair their epidermis.

Subraces

Although Aulvae do not specifically have subraces that are genetically passed on from, they can develop certain features based on being exposed to different catalysts during their growth - commonly referred to as differing 'strands'. It is important to note, that while these strands are strongly associated with colors the ability of Aulvae to manipulate their own anatomy should not trick one into assuming which strand they are dealing with in any given scenario.

• Aram (Red) : Bonus to Robustness
• Arum (Orange) : Bonus to Robustness and Toughness
• Arul (Yellow) : Bonus to Vigilance
• Arun (Green) : Bonus to Vigilance and Toughness
• Aren (Cyan) : Bonus to Bio
• Arun (Blue) : Bonus to Mechanical
• Arul (Violet) : Bonus to Cognition
• Aral (Magenta) : Bonus to Bio and Toughness

Culture

With no real history and their culture lost to time. The Aulvae have found themselves in an alien world completely devoid of any of their own creations. Despite this, they have shown themselves to be incredibly malleable when it comes to their culture, ethics and values, meaning they are easily integrated into foreign environments.

History

The existence of slimes has been known since the age of interstellar travel. Small, simple organisms with an incredibly unstable genome. These traits were usually researched and used as tools to create a wide variety of boons to soteria and other science-centric groups. What was not known was their origins, where said creatures came from or what type of life forms they’re related to.

After an extensive archeological dig on the east side of the mountain that housed the colony. A soteria work team happened upon what seemed like dated, completely archaic ruins. With automatic doors that seemed to work with a complete lack of power and flickering screens scrawling with an unknown script. Despite the majority of the ruins still being under strict and continued research, the one thing that was immediately taken under emergency review was an enclosed chamber filled with stasis pods.

The technology that held the stasis fields was remarkably found to still be viable, the specimens within seemed to closely resemble the slimes that the team had been well acquainted with. The main, and rather obvious distinction was their humanoid appearances, albeit alien facial features.

Upon retrieval and subsequent revival, it was found that these specimens had been as sentient as the other races found in their arm of the galactic spiral. The reasoning for their status quickly became apparent upon testing, with their genetic structure rapidly decaying. This quickly led to the conclusion that the stasis was a last-ditch effort to stave off their genetic malus.

With Soteria's own advanced research and development into genetic manipulation, it didn't take long for them to find a cure to what had caused the genetic decay that had seemingly devolved the specimens into the very slimes we know today. Out of the thirty eight initial attempts twenty five were successful, with full recovery and revival. These successes paving the way to not only revive the remainder of those still frozen within stasis, but to reverse the atavism found in their devolved descendants

Learning and Education

Surprising very few, the Aulvae have demonstrated an exceptional aptitude to take in new information - particularly through experiential learning. An Aulvae dedicated towards learning the operation of a super-matter engine can often be taught the rote in just one or two dry-runs, and the deeper physics involved in a matter of days. Of course, this pliability of mind is not without its downsides. Soteria researchers first tasked with testing the limits of this ability quickly came to find that the Aulvae can forget just as quickly as they can learn - and being a naturally curious species they can often be driven to great feats of single-minded focus - and woe betide the teacher who fails to earn the interest of their would-be pupil. If one place something before an Aulvae that fails to pique their interest any attempts to teach them will be wrought with frustration, repetition and segues. Despite this, most Aulvae exhibit 'some' area of particular skill seemingly informed by their Strand. Sadly, a particular inherent skill does not inform a natural passion for this field of expertise and many Aulvae profess a desire to pursue interests beyond.