Character/NPC The Courting of Icaca, The Open-Minded Avian

Not long ago, I began going through my teleporter bookmarks for previously-visited locations to convert into colonies. I found an old Hylotl castle on a fairly temperate planet, which I re-populated and partially restored to its former glory (the overgrown vines add character, after all). I found a half-destroyed cabin on a snowy world, which I repaired and built around to make a Glitch hamlet, complete with inn, blacksmith and crops. But I also happened across a small, abandoned cabin on a desert world, with a couple of Avian ruins nearby. It was a very small house; basically a dining room and porch-turned-storage-area. But I expanded it room by room, going as far as hollowing out the roof. In the end, I had a decent home with an entry hall, a dining room, a kitchen, a bathroom and a greenhouse on the ground floor, while the attic held a bedroom and storeroom. The perfect romantic getaway.

Romance has always been a common suggestion for Starbound, and one that never got added. After all, randomly-generated NPCs (be they villagers, colonists or crew members) have some good quotes and moods, but not a whole lot of uniqueness. However, for some time now, I've noticed that Avian NPC dialogue occasionally verges on the flirtatious(or at least it did in previous versions; looking at the wiki, it's a little more toned down and platonic now). This led to some headcanon about Avians having some sort of infatuation with other species, especially the Grounded. I even did a fanfic based on the idea of the Grounded wanting to 'fly away' with a member of another species. So, with a nice little house awaiting an occupant, I was determined to see if a little imagination and emergence could fill in the gaps of Starbound's lacking romance.

Since I didn't have enough racial furniture, it took some trial-and-error until I got a female Avian. Icaca was quick to make herself at home, and went all dandere not long after. Grappling with her feelings while hiding in the storeroom is one thing, but needing a cold shower after talking to me really took the cake.




As you might have noticed, due to the way the house it set up (with the bedroom technically being a part of the kitchen), Icaca is a chef. I kind of like this, as it not only provides me with merchant services (she sells Ocean Salsa!), but it gives her something to do while I'm away. Especially when there's a greenhouse and teleporter at her disposal, not to mention the suspicious number of Hylotl foodstuffs she has for sale. Still, everyone has things they're passionate about, even if they can get a little too attached.






Like any tenant, Icaca has offered me a few quests over time. Mostly combat-based ones about killing monsters or hostile characters, as opposed to the stock-expansion ones I've seen from other merchants. Still, I'm happy to do them, if it keeps my love safe.


She appreciates it when I complete them, of course. There's always a reward as well, but I like to think love is its own reward.


So, while Starbound may not have a formal romance system, the right NPC quotes and moods at the right time can make all the difference. I'll stay on the lookout for new moments that arise, but I'm pretty satisfied with what I've seen already. It just goes to show that in a universe as vast and sparsely-inhabited as Starbound's, species is no barrier to love. You just need to be a little open minded.



Update 1: Things got real today.

First, Icaca said we should meet new people, and gave me a quest to build a house for a new colonist.


Easy enough, I thought. Having some left over materials from an earlier Avian-themed project, I built a small house for a likeminded Avian chef to keep her company.



But later, this happened.


Brutal. She's dating someone else, and only breaks it to me when asking me to save his sorry butt.

But I'm not the kind of man who'd turn down a job like this over petty emotions. Protectors save people. So I set out and brought this Tlih character back without incident, whereupon he made himself at home, leaving me with my petty reward.



Now, biologically speaking, interbreeding between an Apex and Avian should be impossible short of genetic engineering. So, perhaps it's possible that this is the start of a polyandric relationship with Tlih being Icaca's breeding partner, and me being being an emotionally-supportive boy toy. Tlih himself has been very polite to me since saving him, so perhaps this isn't the end of my relationship with Icaca. It's possible that it's just taken a different form, thanks to our inability to reproduce. And if Avians are indeed comfortable having an interspecies romance on top of a traditional one with their own kind, perhaps that's an indication of some level of polyamory within their society.

That, or I've been friendzoned. Again.

Whatever the case, I'll provide updates as the situation develops.

Update 2: Things have taken another interesting turn.

It quickly became clear that my suspicions were correct; Icaca still loves me.


She also loves Tlih.


But that's not to say Tlih and I don't get along. He approached me with a request to rescue his friend.



Which, sadly, I failed to do. She couldn't keep up, yet decided she wouldn't teleport to me like most other escorted NPCs. I don't know if she fell too far behind and the quest failed as a result, or if she was attacked by a mob and had to flee (the quest failure notification mentions that she had to teleport elsewhere).

But there were quickly bigger things on my mind, as Icaca drops this bombshell.



I actually had to look up what "playing the field" means, which is apparently when someone dates a number of other people, without the intention of a serious relationship.

Well... that would explain why she'd be dating Tlih. And it does confirm my suspicions about being little more than a boy toy to her.

But I suppose I can't blame her. Evidently, she's got her own issues to sort out at the moment.



This experiment gets more bizarrely dramatic by the day.

 

We encourage people to keep things PG-13 on the forums, so I don't know if it's a good idea to discuss Avian reproductive biology.

 

Updated with a dramatic turn of events.

 

Yet another update, with a revelation confirming my thoughts.

 

I stopped taking screenshots after a while, but I'll try and scrape together one last update at some point.