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artspitter) wrote2017-06-08 04:13 pm
artspitter) wrote2017-06-08 04:13 pm
Basic info post
Who is this character? Lin, from China Miéville's novel Perdido Street Station
What is she? Lin is khepri, a race of insectile creatures whose female members have humanoid bodies, and a full scarab beetle in place of a head. The name khepri comes from the Egyptian god associated with the scarab, but in Lin’s canon there is no relation to Egyptian mythology.
Where is she from? New Crobuzon, a city-state in the world of Bas-Lag. Lin’s universe has both steampunk technology and magic (though in canon, magic is called thaumaturgy), with the khepri being just one of many intelligent non-human races.
What does she look like? Basically human from the neck down. She’s petite, about five feet tall, and hourglass-shaped. Her skin is red and hairless, with remarkable (for a human) muscular definition.
Of course everything from the neck up is unmistakably inhuman. Lin has a two-foot long scarab for a head. It’s a fully formed beetle, complete with legs and wings. Her scarab carapace has an iridescent sheen, mainly ruby-colored but with some greens and golds. The beetle’s underside segues directly into Lin’s neck, chitin turning to flesh somewhere around the hollow of her throat.
What are the most important things to know for IC interaction (other than that whole beetle-headed thing)?
This post is a work-in-progress. I know Lin is an unusual character from an obscure canon, so I'll try to include useful details in RP descriptions and communicate OOCly as needed. But if you need clarification/more information, please feel free to PM me!
What is she? Lin is khepri, a race of insectile creatures whose female members have humanoid bodies, and a full scarab beetle in place of a head. The name khepri comes from the Egyptian god associated with the scarab, but in Lin’s canon there is no relation to Egyptian mythology.
Where is she from? New Crobuzon, a city-state in the world of Bas-Lag. Lin’s universe has both steampunk technology and magic (though in canon, magic is called thaumaturgy), with the khepri being just one of many intelligent non-human races.
What does she look like? Basically human from the neck down. She’s petite, about five feet tall, and hourglass-shaped. Her skin is red and hairless, with remarkable (for a human) muscular definition.
Of course everything from the neck up is unmistakably inhuman. Lin has a two-foot long scarab for a head. It’s a fully formed beetle, complete with legs and wings. Her scarab carapace has an iridescent sheen, mainly ruby-colored but with some greens and golds. The beetle’s underside segues directly into Lin’s neck, chitin turning to flesh somewhere around the hollow of her throat.
What are the most important things to know for IC interaction (other than that whole beetle-headed thing)?
- Lin is young; I don’t think her age is ever explicitly stated in canon, but I imagine her at the equivalent of a human’s twenties.
- She can’t speak or make any vocal sound, as khepri have no larynx, but she can hear and understand spoken words. With other khepri Lin would use chemical excretions to communicate, combined with movements of her antennae. With non-khepri she’ll use sign language, write things down on a note pad or type them for screen display, depending on the setting/time period. In RP I'll generally use italics to denote Lin’s speech, whether written/typed or signed. I'll always check in first before assuming your character would know sign language.
- She’s an artist by trade and biology. Khepri artists can create sculptures from a wax-like substance, secreted by a gland in their head’s hind-body. Thus the term artspitter, although khepri don’t really spit!
- Lin eschews traditional khepri garments in favor of human-style clothing, wearing lots of brightly colored, non-patterned dresses.
- Lin has compound eyes, which means she sees in many directions at once, and is very good at detecting even the slightest motion. But her vision can’t pick out small details as well as a human’s, and reading is more difficult for her (though she can read, it just requires more effort and focus). She can also see ultraviolet light.
- Unlike the Egyptian scarab, Lin is not a dung-eating beetle (UM THANK GOODNESS). She eats mainly fruit and vegetables, no meat. After she's brought the food to her mouth, Lin can eat without using her human hands, since she has two sets of scarab jaws: one to hold the food still, one to chew.
This post is a work-in-progress. I know Lin is an unusual character from an obscure canon, so I'll try to include useful details in RP descriptions and communicate OOCly as needed. But if you need clarification/more information, please feel free to PM me!