Spoiler
”If you had better shopping options, then I wouldn’t be here”
Coffee Shomuis runs a traveling store that she usually places on whatever world it's currently trendy to explore. (Unless her corporate owners decide to have her go to a city, where there's more customers, and rake in the big bucks. Because 'being the only store' works out so well in a city)
Str 7|Int 5|Cha 4|End 2|Agl 7|Luk 4
Likes:Travelling, serenity, scenic views, living off the land
Dislikes:Crowds, noise, idiots that can't read signs

Spoiler

song i made for her but didn't record so now it's a poemlisten to my tale of woe
the tale that all have long forgo
when they hear of a siren's plea
they forget i once was like thee

once with bright crest feathers
and a bright big light.
won't you come to hear my plight?

i was once ambitious,
yet not so vicious
as what had killed what was left of "me"

i sought a treasure,
that went beyond all measures,
could even grant enternity.

so i took a crew,
and as such, we flew
to the planet, big and blue.

but what laid there!
oh, it was such a scare
to hear another's plea

not one unlike this, you see.

for her bright big teeth
came and bit to me
leaving me, alone

for she lead me there!
with a plea she sweared
was not of trickery.

hmm, hmm. hmm. hm

and in the end, my friends,
my crew that i'd known for years
have gone and left me here

and there's none i can do, you see
except to sing my plea
and hope someone's entailed
to come and hear my tale

[so i can bite and rip their tail.]

More Detailed BackstoryCharteuse used to be a happier aftik. She was the captain of a crew headed to Fortuna, seeking fortune from her.

Her ambition drove her to take on even the deadliest planets, in hope of finding the best treasure they could get! That, and she wanted to save the citizens of the planet. Her hero complex, her first mate warned, may get in her in trouble someday. Charteuse had laughed it off at the time. She was wrong to laugh later, she knew.

On the planet before Fortuna, she was downright giddy. She left her ship after some of her crewmates did, looking not fuel- her crew would do that- but for adventure. She explored the planet, marveling at the sights and fauna. A desserted planet, though not interesting to most, perhaps, was something extraordinary to Charteuse.

Then a voice struck her. A cry for help! Even though she knew that no one should rightfully have been there- she ran to the cry.

Before her was a weeping aftik, like herself. With bright yellow feathers and a dimming guiding light.

"Help me," the yellow aftik cried. "Please. It hurts."

Charteuse took a step forward. And another step closer. "What's wrong?"

"Help me," the aftik repeated. "Please, I need help. Come to me."

So she did. She leaned in front of the aftik, giving her best smile.

Only to feel something biting her- pain seeping through her veins. She began to shake.

It wasn't an aftik she found, but a clockwork siren.

And she was stricken by the same fear the aftik before her had, and could only cry for help.

Spoiler

SpoilerOlive is a D-class notail who was entered into an adoption agency after a ship ferrying newborn D's to a lab crashed. As there was only time for the good samaritans to save the newborns the adults and ship data were lost to the fire. All the newborns that survived imprinted onto the aftiks working at the nursery.
If Olive hadn't been born a D class they would have been an M class.

Aftik Anatomy ramblingI ran into an interesting problem while making this, namely the specifics of Aftik anatomy. In particular, the shape of their ribs.

Most upright bipedal quadrupeds (humanoids) on Earth have closed rib cages.



However, there's only one extant example -- us!

Almost all other animals, including the extinct Dromaeosauridae (Velociraptors + Deinonychus) family upon which I'm guessing Aftiks are based, have open rib cages.


^{Deinonychus skeleton. Note how the ribs don't meet in the middle.}

But, since that's likely because they don't stand upright, we can't really apply that to Aftik anatomy.

Aftiks' other close Earthling relatives, birds (which conveniently are bipedal) have large, bladelike-sternums.



But, since those are only necessary to serve as an anchor point for birds' powerful wing muscles and Aftiks don't have wings, we can't really use that model either.

In the end I just used a human skeleton, as it was easiest to find in the pose I needed, but it's an interesting question.

There are many, many more of these sorts of questions we could ask, like whether they would retain their large toe-claws when they transitioned to upright movement, or what forced them to stand upright in the first place, but without knowing the conditions and ecology of their home planet, they're unfortunately impossible to answer.

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