Kelvic Character & Other Qs

by **Reven Heath** on February 6th, 2014, 4:15 am

Hello there!

I've got a lot of questions about the roleplay. Every time one pops up, I'll be posting it on here for clarification. I want to say thank you in advance for any responses!

-When regarding the Kelvic race, I read that it is preferred to keep a young Kelvic unbound until they are mature which helps them grow in all aspects, mentally, emotionally, etc. So, it said that they are closely monitored to make sure of this... can someone define this for me and how easy it is to bond with someone? Are they in isolation basically? Or do they only interact with their family?

-As part of her story, Reven's parents basically become MIA and someone else takes her to care for her. I want to make the story of searching for her parents as a kind of quest of sorts, as part of her character development and I'm wondering if that's okay? Not really a question... But still needs an answer!

-Bringing me to my next one... If your character is living in the same house hold and being taken care of by another NPC in their story, on their character sheet [Reven's], would you still count having an apartment or not having an apartment to their ledger? Even if, technically, they are not paying for said apartment?

-When it comes to Kelvic age, most of the research I've come up gives me 2 different life spans: In the wilderness and in captivity. Kind of a silly question, but would I guestimate between the two to determine how long the life span is? And if not, which one should I go with?

by **Alea Davenport** on February 6th, 2014, 4:52 am

When a kelvic is "closely monitored to keep them from bonding", that's usually referring to slavers who raise kelvics to sell. Bonding just happens when both parties want it to happen, so I guess it's as easy as finding someone you want to bond with, which varies from Kelvic to Kelvic.

Searching for family members is a perfectly legit plot device

If they are living in an NPC's house, you would probably just count that as their starting package housing. You might also want to request said NPC at the Help Desk, especially if you plan to use them often in threads.

Lifespan probably depends on what kind of life they lead. IN the wilderness, animals have a lot more things that can kill them, like predators, diseases, not getting enough food, etc. In captivity, their lives are much easier and they're much better taken care of, so animals in captivity can live up to their max lifespan.

by **Reven Heath** on February 6th, 2014, 5:11 am

Oooohh. Hahah, I didn't even think about it that way. Thank you so much for your response by the way! Very much appreicated.

I didn't think to reference monitoring to slavers but that makes sense now. And heck yes, such a legit plot device! I'm excited to find others to participate in that story line. I definitely want to make the NPC a significant part in my character's development so I'll be sure to follow up with the help desk about it.

Thank you very much for answering my questions, you've been such a big help!

by **Reven Heath** on February 9th, 2014, 4:59 pm

Hello again! I've got another question. I'm creating an NPC now and there are a few things I need clarification on.

My NPC will only be staying with me a short time, maybe 1 season. I understand there is a seasonal expense for them. So if they obtain their own job, that is not employed by me, does that count toward the monthly income of my PC. This is a stationary NPC, someone who has taken care of my character while she grew and so my character will not be staying with her that long. So:

-Will having that NPC be charged seasonally to me even if I'm not going to be staying with them that long.
-If they have a job, is that shared income for my character as well?

Also, I didn't see anything relating to Gnosis marks for NPCs in the wiki, at least not on the NPC page. Does the same thing apply to them as it does when a character is first starting out that they'll need a story of how they got it? Or are they not allowed to have one?

by **Memento** on February 9th, 2014, 5:59 pm

A stationary NPC does not need to be taken care of by your PC. Which means they have their own job and pay for their own expenses. Your PC does not share items and/or money with stationary NPCs, but that also mean you don't have to pay for their expenses as well.

You only need to pay for seasonal expenses for travel companions.

I can't really answer the Gnosis mark question, but I guess you would need to request it on the Help Desk when you're requesting said NPC.

by **Kalina** on February 9th, 2014, 6:09 pm

Kelvics age at the rate of an animal in the wild, not in captivity. It doesn't make a difference if your Kelvic is the most pampered animal in existence, or living in off the unforgiving lands outside of civilisation.

I saw that question answered before and the response was that Mizahar is young in its new development, since the Valterrian, which means that nowhere is "safe" and most are struggling to make ends meet. Every day takes effort for survival for every person living in Mizahar, and because of the harsh world, all Kelvics are deemed to live the length of a wild animal.

Therefore my ocelot, who would live 20 years in captivity, will only live the 10 in the wild. Even though she is being cared for, and isn't "wild". This is just the state of Mizahar.

by **Rinya** on February 9th, 2014, 6:18 pm

I don't believe that is entirely true Kalina. Because while Mizahar is young and yes has lots of danger, that would be saying humans wouldn't reach 80 because of it. I would say it really would depend on the lifestyle of your character.

Living in the city and mantaining a job means you can pay for medical expenses that turn up. Injury does not mean death for a Kelvic like it would for a wild animal. A Kelvic living in a city is far more 'safe' than one that travels from city to city. That's not the say illness and injury cannot end their lives, but in some ways that adds up to a 'captivity' kind of situation.

In that aspect as well, Kelvics are more intelligent that 'wild animals'. They have the capability to choose their lifestyles, and I believe it is entirely possible for an animal that would only live 10 years in the wild, to live 20 in a city. The older they get, they have that choice to settle down.

In the long run however the best one to ask would be Goss.

by **Gossamer** on February 9th, 2014, 6:42 pm

Rinya has it correct. I'm not sure where Kalina got her info, but it certainly doesn't say that in the wiki. If anything, Kelvics take care of themselves better than animals in the wild do. AKA.. you can get medical treatment, preventative medicine, dentistry, etc. Seems overall a logic fail to say that they HAVE to age at the rate of an animal in the wild. I certainly have never said that.

Here's my feelings on NPCs and GNosis marks. PCs are the exceptional folks in and around Mizahar. Why would you make NPCs that are just casual and not really too important to your story anyhow have a gnosis mark? I haven't ever approved a gnosis mark for an NPC unless its just something like a vantha who would have a morwen's mark or svefra that would have a laviku mark. Above that, they shouldn't be anything special unless they are a city NPC who drives plot.

by **Kalina** on February 9th, 2014, 7:08 pm

EDIT: Goss got there first... never mind xD to be honest, the fact that they age at the rate of captive Kelvics means that I can now half the rate at which Kalina's ageing... she'll now appear to be about 6-7 rather than 10

I'm not so worried about having to squeeze in her learning!

I'm not arguing that a Kelvic is theoretically better off than their pure animal counterparts. Yes, it's plausible that they might live longer, relatively, due to care and lifestyle in civilisation. I'm basing my information off of a CS intervention I read a while back (just found it again) here, but it's very possible I misinterpreted. - though like you say, Goss will set us straight!

I agree that if humans are living so long, then Kelvics should, logically, share their "captive" life-span, but humans are also a lot smaller than current humans, so the longevity is maybe more of a Mizahar fantasy thing, rather than accurate historical fact.

But lifestyle isn't going to add on ten years to Kalina's life. In the under-developed world that Mizahar is, compared to what we know as First-World Earth, life isn't all that markedly different in the wild vs civilisation, in comparison to the countless differences that the real world has between techonology in the US compared to, say, rural Tanzania. The medical equipment we have today doesn't exist in this world, so lifespans of "captive" animals might not exist. I mean, it's reasonable to say they won't, I think.

Medicine in this world is pretty impressive, but she's not receiving vaccinations, or cutting-edge surgery, or even meals which are best suited for high nutrient intake. And she's definitely not being dewormed, following all the filthy water she probably drank from in her way to Nyka!

Anyway, my point is that I don't think the technology in Mizahar is advanced enough for Kelvics to have "captive" lifespans. But that's my tuppence, I wait for the definitive words of The Powers That Be

by **Reven Heath** on February 9th, 2014, 7:27 pm

Well, um, hi guys!

Thanks for all the responses. The reason I was asking about the Gnosis mark is that a skill I want to put on the NPC seems to only be available via the Gnosis mark. So that's why I was wondering. It was for Illusionism and that I'm not sure if you can make into a skill, I don't figure you can. But I may just replace that with hypnotism.

When it comes to the aging of a Kelvic, I would think that it depended on the life style and the amount of care one gets because if you're less likely to be in danger where someone will end your life, and closer to medicine and healers, I would figure that would increase the life span by a number of years, since you're not really doing anything to actively but your body in danger or using it to the extremes consistently. I may be totally wrong, but this is how I think of it.