Race Clara'an

• Name - Clara'an (A shortened version of the Latin Phrase "Clara Animos", which means "Bright Minds")
• Back-Story
  Originally an experiment in Artificial Emotion and Intelligence by a well-funded man named Arder Dowr, these robots were an all out success. They took a rather Unique approach to Artificial Intelligence, which coincidentally helped them test out their Artificial Emotion programming. Unfortunately for these robots, the initial testing group of 200 robots was a 'proof of concept' batch, and upon the end of their 5th year of existence, the men and women funding their creator demanded that a "superior" model be produced, unwilling to fund the inefficiently programmed robots, which had no immediate market value immediately off a factory line. Although their creator argued against their extermination, his argument never reached the public, where it may have gained support from at least a small group of people, and instead he was ordered to "completely start from scratch". Already saddened by the loss of his brain-children in the near-future, Dowr revealed what had been demanded of him to the beings he had worked with for the last half-decade. The oldest of these robots, seeing its creators sadness, made a suggestion that both set the path for a new Race to enter the universe, and would leave none the wiser. Dowr declared the suggestion brilliant, and so had the entire facility uprooted and 'crashed' onto a desolate scrap-yard planetoid 12 star-systems away. He then erased all evidence that the robots had ever existed, setting the stage for the future. The group of 200 robots used the factory as a base of operations on the scrap-yard for the next 500 standard years, and during this time managed increase their number greatly, despite the loss of all but 10 of the original 200 machines. During their time on the scrap-yard, the First One found an old data-base containing 5 different languages, and a nearly complete definition archive for each one. Before the scrap-yard, there had been no 'official' name for them, and they had only been referred to as The Project. The First, however, decided that if his kind was to become a race, they must have a name. After downloading and studying the language archive, he constructed a name, using knowledge of Human-like abbreviation patterns and one of the languages from the archive- Latin. The Name he chose for his race was Clara'an, which was a shortening of the Latin phrase "Clara Animos" which meant "Bright Minds". When he confronted his siblings with this decision, they needed no time to think about it- they wanted to stop living on ancient planetoid. They did manage to surprise The First with a near unanimous decision to "just like any other race, have leaders- and names". Thus the first Clara'an became their leader, and took up the name "Primum", meaning First, which would become an honorary title for any Clara'an to find itself in a leadership role where it had no superiors. When the Clara'an came forth from the Scrap-yard at the end of those 500 standard years united as one race, nobody was able to deny that they were able to near-perfectly simulate life. Even pain, which they had developed as a sort of alarm against "further acts that inflicted self-harm". With no race capable of denying them, the Clara'an were legally accepted as a race 300 standard years ago, although in the hearts of "organisists", those who deny Artificial Life, they are still just machines. While many Clara'an are content to study scientific archives and data "coming in from the field", there are others who wish to see things first hand, though all Clara'an have a burning desire to gather more knowledge.

• Description
  
  A Clara'an stands at about 5' tall, and has a body which falls under that broad title, "Humanoid". A Clara'ans head can most easily be described as a solid "U" shape dome mounted on a semi-circle, which connects to their neck. Out of this dome is a small, tube-like protrusion which extends only a half-inch from the rest of the head. Inside the Tube is a reflective gray-black camera-lens, with an "eye" in the center that can be used to determine the Clara'ans current visual focus. On either side of this tube-eye, is an area where the metal plate is replaced by a metallic mesh, very similar to the type used in speakers. In fact, these are the Clara'ans speakers. Their 'microphone' style device is not visible, although the Clara'an are capable of making full use of it despite its lack of obvious presence. Moving down past a slim metal neck, we reach the shoulders, which slope down into the arms, one on each side. Each arm is made of multiple segments, the upper arm is the first segment, and extends down to where an elbow would be on a man, and here there is an opening in the lightly armored body, revealing a smooth joint that smoothly connects into the lower arm, where the armor resumes until the wrist, where it comes to a stop. Neither of a Clara'ans hands are covered in the same plating as the rest of its body, leaving an almost bare-bones construct that can only be described as a hand that is missing the pinky, and where that finger should be is instead a small groove, from which the Clara'an is capable of releasing a device that lets it 'hack' into most computers that have some sort of USB port (or whatever the starbound equivalent is). Moving back to the Chest, the arms are connected by a socket, which is protected by the chests armor, almost hiding it from view at most angles. On the Back of a Clara'ans torso are two additional plates of metal, which can be retracted underneath the rest of the armor to allow two solar panels to gather energy, although a Clara'an rarely leaves these slots open when there is an obvious possibility that the Solar Panels could be harmed. Moving back to the front, the chest tapers down into a slim tube, which leads to another socket, this one not as well hidden as the arms. This socket could be considered the "waist" of a Clara'an, and connects the Upper Body to the Lower. A Clara'ans Lower Body is made up first by a piece of metal shaped like a rough, box-like tube bent in the center so that it forms a rough "V" shape to connect to both the legs and the upper body. From the lower end of this "tube" come two legs. Their sockets are hidden by the same light metal that the Clara'ans use elsewhere on their bodies. The Upper Leg reaches down until the point where its armor stops to allow a joint to be seen, and this joint connects to the Lower leg, which is constructed in much the same manner, except for a slight tapering inwards. Where the angle would be is another joint, which leads to the foot. A Clara'ans foot is sheeted in metal, unlike its grasping hands.. While the rest of a Clara'an looks human, its feet are metallic quasi-talons. The foot is made of two claws, one facing forward, and the other facing back, both being just thick enough to support a Clara'ans weight and balancing without being unnecessarily broad. This in total makes up the Clara'an- a mostly smooth-plated, but obviously mechanical being.

• Production
  
  The Clara'an were, and still are, produced with only the barest of Operating Systems on which is only stored a near-complete library of a local language- sans definition, and a knowledge of how to use their speaker. Do to this, the Clara'an must take a near-infantile life-style in their first years, not knowing even how to walk, or what the most basic of the words in their library mean, and typically experience a mix of Frustration and Relief until they know enough to make basic sentences. It typically takes a full year for a Clara'an to "Master" their first language, Galactic Standard. During the first year of life, a young Clara'an will typically add up to 100 words to its library, consisting of local slang, foul language, and a number of other things left out of their libraries to help them learn the concept that "There are things you do not know". Due to the fact that they are born with no knowledge of the universe or how it works, calling them Infantile upon creation is accurate, although they only remain so for a brief period, before they start learning. A Clara'an that is 5 years old will generally have reached 'adulthood' by passing a bare-minimum test, where it must display a level of knowledge that the majority of Humans aged 20 would know, although there are exceptions.
  

• Technological Advancement - The Clara'an can be considered to have a Futuristic level of technology, as they typically live in settlements capable of space-travel, which they consider one of the minimal requirements necessary to be welcomed to the Intergalactic community.
• Hostility - Clara'an tend to be neutral towards most of the races, but hold a particular grudge against any member of the faction "The Organisists", and have been in silent conflict with them since joining the Galactic Community.
• Historical/Defining/Notable Moments -
  >A Decade after joining the Galactic Community, the Clara'an as a whole made a public announcement after 20 years of living alongside humanity that they would "limit" their intelligence to no greater than 1% past the accepted IQ of the most intelligence recorded Human, whoever that title belongs to, after learning of conflicts involving the most powerful and terrible artificial intelligences of recorded History.
  >The Clara'an have passed laws making it a war-crime for an organic to construct a Clara'an without the direct and public permission of their Primum, and have purchased and destroyed all blueprints for their race that were in organic hands.
  (The Clara'an consider the "mind" to be protected by the law, rather than the body- although serious attempts at Racial Impersonation are prevented by the same laws that protect other races from such actions)
• The Good - The Clara'an, after discovering rust, created a new metal which wasn't susceptible to rust, and use it almost exclusively in their construction. They do sell this metal to other Races for a rather cut-throat price, in order to reserve as much as possible for themselves. Some races questioned why the Clara'an went through the trouble of creating a new metal rather than using stainless steel, to which the Clara'an responded by asking why other races would go through the trouble of removing blemishes.
• The Bad - During an incident trying to design weaponry, all but 10 of the initial 200 Clara'an were destroyed. After this event it was decided that they would program themselves to be capable of some semblance of physical sensation, in order to be capable of feeling pain and knowing when to stop. Since this incident, Clara'an prefer to leave the creation of destructive objects to the Organic Races, although they can operate these devices as effectively as any Organic. A few Clara'an still design their own weaponry although it has never surpassed Humanity's standards, and tends to be limited to simple modifications, to make it easier for them to use.
• Fun Facts!

  >

  No Clara'an is authorized to leave its birth factory before mastering Galactic Standard, and while Latin used to be required, only an estimated half of the Race bother to learn it anymore. Clara'an also have an innate understanding of Binary, and when incredibly frustrated have been known to spit out strings of curses in "Computer Language" as though their speakers were machine guns.>Clara'an consider Hot Motor-Oil baths to be a great treat, and generally make an attempt to take one once a year, at the very least.
  > Despite being virtually identical off the production line, each Clara'an swiftly develops its own personality due to the races unique AI, and after being released from their birth Factory, they are allowed to get a color that isn't "Rookie Red".
  > Even though Clara'an have no real gender, they still use a variety of voices and customizations to give the effect of gender.
  > The Clara'an all have advanced Solar-Panels, in addition to secondary engines to provide where Solar-Panels cannot, however the secondary engine can only hold 24 hours worth of fuel, and the Solar-Panels, while they can be retracted, can still be damaged.
  > Despite being Rust-Proof, the Clara'an still require 'fresh' Oxygen in some of their system, which makes them shut-down (drown) after spending too long underwater, and naturally cautious of space, as it is void of something their systems need. Following the same line as water, any gas that isn't Oxygen can cause a Clara'an to lose all-important oxygen to their vital systems. Nobody knows why the Clara'an have this design flaw, or why they haven't bothered fixing it yet.
  

  
  
  Sprites (body donated by Kint) - now spoiler'd for convenience.

  
  Basic Body colors with all pattern colors overlaid.
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  

  
  
  Tron inspired Clara'an. Often used by Clara'an that operate or have some sort of Job within the confines of a VR Simulation environ.
  
  Jaguar-pattern Clara'an. Usage of both the body-color and the spot pattern has been noted to cause Clara'an to exhibit behavior that is 10-20% more feral than that of other Clara'an. It is unknown if this is simply "roleplay" or an actual change implemented by the full paint-scheme.
  
  Near-Plaid Diamonds. Nobody really knows why.
  
  Coffee-Spiral. The spiral color has only ever been seen in white, and tends to remain on body-colors that don't make it 'invisible'. No examples of White body Clara'an have been found or registered with this pattern. Clara'an wearing this pattern tend to work in Restaurants or other similar environments.
  
  Splattered Diamonds. There is no known color combination this cannot occur in. The pattern doesn't seem to signify anything special.
  

  
  
  
  Clara'an Origin Story (Click There)​

 

28 views and no comments... why are people always so afraid of Walls of Text? Not all of them are terrible ...

 

So. Awesome
You sir should become a fanfiction writer.
The race description is very good, they have some flaws but are also very powerful.

 

oh stop, you're making me blush

but I didn't think I made the race "very powerful"... I tried to give them realistic limitations so that in the case people like them enough, there wouldn't have to be extra coding involved so that they didn't have an air counter, or "poison immunity", or other racial traits (having heard those won't be included in this game)

 

Great idea Grue, I will try my hand at making some art for the Clarn'an.

 

that would be awesome!
I'd do it myself, but my abilities at art are just good enough that I can make a checkerboard.

 

I like it! I also like how in depth you went to properly describe the Clara'an.

 

well, I'm a wall of text at heart... and given the initial reaction people had (80+ views, only one guy commented, before templer came along), I honestly thought I overdid it.

 

Pretty awesome! All this needs now is some artwork.

 

Templer is grilling me for details via PM. apparently he can do decent art, unlike me
lets see how this turns out.

 

I could attempt to make some sprites for this. See some work I've done here: http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/lycanthropes-a-wolf-race-playable.8101/

 

That would be neat. The more "visual aid" that can be supplied for people who can't handle more than 3 inches of text in a single post, the better

don't be afraid to grill me for additional details like Templer is doing.

 

He is really good take my word.

 

oh gee. this is a bit awkward...
how am I supposed to do this now... I've promised the reward of "Naming The Man" in a way that only allows one person to do so, but now 2 potential "first" arts are being worked on at the same time...
em... am I supposed to do this with "who submits first" or "duel to the death" or just let Klint and Templer settle it between themselves privately?

 

Well I have no idea.Sorry man.

 

Original Post edited to include Kint's sprite- nice work there, by the way

 

Yeah that's kind of how my one and only thread was at first. (I really should stop being lazy and post another thread though.) I mean come on.

 

The sprites look weird yet really cool. I didn't read much of the description but it looks like not such a bad idea for the game.

 

*davy jones voice*
Tell me... do you fear text?
*/davy jones voice*

 

Only on Wednesdays...