Anya Venari
Star Queen Tirathana VII
Jesters
Images:
Source: Wikipedia Angora Rabbit [SIZE=11pt]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/EnglishAngoraRabbit.jpg[/SIZE]
Name: Jesters, or Tasaeri in Eldorai, both mean the same thing. They get their name from the sound they make which sounds like giggling or laughing.
Designation: Semi-sentient.
Homeworld: Kaeshana
Language: Vocalisations which sound like laughing. Telepathic communication.
Average height of adults: 15cm high, 30cm long.
Skin color: Pinkish under the fur.
Hair color: Fur ranges from white to grey.
Breathes: Type I
Strengths:
Average Lifespan: 10-15 years. Jesters become sexually mature about 1 year old.
Races: Those which were domesticated early on, around 4-5000 years before the present have gradually grown in size and intelligence. The wild or feral Jesters are smaller and a bit less dim than their domesticated cousins. The wild ones tend to have white fur whilst domesticated ones can be bred for grey fur.
Estimated Population: Found native on Kaeshana in large numbers. On an Earth scale the wild ones would be considered ‘threatened’ by poaching, loss of habitat, but there are still millions of them.
Diet: Jesters naturally eat seeds, nuts, berries and other leafy matter. Since they eat a lot for their body weight they tend to not be picky when it comes to food. One food they will not eat is the purple Saanberry fruit, resulting in a great increase of these farms as they are not as often raided.
More recently, domesticated Jesters have started to eat pet food, and all Jesters will eat anything they can get their paws on. The exception is meat which tends to make them ill.
Communication: Jesters get their name from the surprisingly loud barking ‘laugh’ they make when defending their territory or attracting a mate. The other, more important means of communication is their telepathic means. This does mean that all Jesters are slightly Force sensitive, but this telepathic communication is limited by their intelligence. Basically, they can transmit their feelings in a short range around them. If they are happy and content, they radiate this mentally. This is their main attraction as pets as they can help their owner feel happy too. Of course, if they are unhappy or hungry the same thing applies. They cannot transmit actual words except for distinct impressions or feelings like ‘hungry’, ‘happy’ or ‘sick’.
They do have ‘names’ for each other and themselves, usually written out as they ‘speak’ aloud. Thus, Siobhan and Tegaea’s pet is named Grrbyrr because that is the most common sound he makes when he’s not laughing.
Culture: Jesters do not have culture, per se. They do ‘laugh’ competitively to attract a mate, but are too undeveloped to create art or the like.
Technology level: They can learn how to open basic latches, but cannot make anything themselves.
General behaviour: Jesters are a rather friendly and trusting species. Though they have natural predators even the wild ones are relatively fearless when it comes to trying to get food.
Male Jesters rarely stay with their mates long after breeding, leaving the female to look after the pups alone. Fortunately, baby Jesters are able to move quite quickly and follow their mother within a day of birth. However, there is an extremely high mortality rate among the pups in the wild, leading to the high birth rate. This means that in captivity it is generally advisable for the owner to spay or neuter their pets to prevent being overwhelmed.
Jesters compete for females using their laugh, but are not above fighting. The resulting scuffle was described by a visiting human as ‘the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen’ as the two furry creatures flailed at each other. Quite what the female thinks of this is unknown, but she tends to have her own ‘laugh’ to egg them on, so perhaps there are not as many differences with humans as expected.
Jesters have a fascination for shiny objects. Sadly this can lead them into the path of speeders, onto monorail tracks and other fatal pursuits.
Jesters will usually run and hide from attack, but can deliver a painful nip if cornered. However, since they are so small and squishy their cowardice is highly advisable.
History: Jesters, or Tasaeri as they are known in Eldorai, have been on Kaeshana for as long as records exist. Whether they were created by the Rakata along with the Eldorai, were native, or a mix of the two is unknown. It’s hard to see what role they could have filled for the Rakata, but then again the Rakata were never known for logical applications.
Regardless, the Jesters are native to the many high mountains of Kaeshana, especially the north and east, though they spread to all alpine climates by the time of the first Star Queen Tassaria some 2500 years ago. Their interactions with the Eldorai and Kar’zun originally were limited as the Kar’zun lived in the mountains and took little notice of the furry herbivores. After the Kar’zun were almost exterminated in a genocidal war by the Eldorai though they spread down into the lowlands and into the new farms. Small scale domestication had already taken place before, but now became a common thing.
In more modern times, outsiders to Kaeshana have seen the cute Jesters as pets and many have been bought or smuggled off world to the galaxy.
Notable Player-Characters: None. Tegaea and Siobhan have a pet Jester named Grrbyrr who might get an NPC submission.
Intent: To create a unique creature to populate Kaeshana with. This animal has been part of the Eldorai lore for a long time, but deserves its own entry. It also helps Firemane by giving them something else to sell as pets. Jesters are small, hapless furry creatures which can’t do anything to anything unless it’s a kitchen larder.
Images:
Source: Wikipedia Angora Rabbit [SIZE=11pt]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/EnglishAngoraRabbit.jpg[/SIZE]
Name: Jesters, or Tasaeri in Eldorai, both mean the same thing. They get their name from the sound they make which sounds like giggling or laughing.
Designation: Semi-sentient.
Homeworld: Kaeshana
Language: Vocalisations which sound like laughing. Telepathic communication.
Average height of adults: 15cm high, 30cm long.
Skin color: Pinkish under the fur.
Hair color: Fur ranges from white to grey.
Breathes: Type I
Strengths:
- Cute: Eldorai and humans find Jesters extremely cute and cuddly. Combined with their telepathic skills they make ideal pets…if one can afford to feed them.
- Semi-intelligent: Jesters are akin to the smarter kinds of animals on Earth such as dolphins. They have limited problem solving abilities and a sense of self.
- Fast reproduction: Jesters, if put together unsupervised, breed extremely quickly. They are able to produce a litter of 6 pups every 2 months.
- Furball: Jesters are not especially fast and practically defenceless. They are small enough to be accidentally squashed or run over. Many wild Jesters end up as rather sad roadkill on Kaeshana roads.
- Rather dim: Though they have some intelligence and sentience, they are pretty dim. They are easily distracted and are incapable of seeing beyond their next meal.
- Ravenous: Jesters are always hungry. A feature of Kaeshana species is that their metabolism is supercharged and they need to eat a lot to keep up eating a lot. This can drive farmers and pet owners insane as Jesters are very skilled at finding their way into cupboards.
Average Lifespan: 10-15 years. Jesters become sexually mature about 1 year old.
Races: Those which were domesticated early on, around 4-5000 years before the present have gradually grown in size and intelligence. The wild or feral Jesters are smaller and a bit less dim than their domesticated cousins. The wild ones tend to have white fur whilst domesticated ones can be bred for grey fur.
Estimated Population: Found native on Kaeshana in large numbers. On an Earth scale the wild ones would be considered ‘threatened’ by poaching, loss of habitat, but there are still millions of them.
Diet: Jesters naturally eat seeds, nuts, berries and other leafy matter. Since they eat a lot for their body weight they tend to not be picky when it comes to food. One food they will not eat is the purple Saanberry fruit, resulting in a great increase of these farms as they are not as often raided.
More recently, domesticated Jesters have started to eat pet food, and all Jesters will eat anything they can get their paws on. The exception is meat which tends to make them ill.
Communication: Jesters get their name from the surprisingly loud barking ‘laugh’ they make when defending their territory or attracting a mate. The other, more important means of communication is their telepathic means. This does mean that all Jesters are slightly Force sensitive, but this telepathic communication is limited by their intelligence. Basically, they can transmit their feelings in a short range around them. If they are happy and content, they radiate this mentally. This is their main attraction as pets as they can help their owner feel happy too. Of course, if they are unhappy or hungry the same thing applies. They cannot transmit actual words except for distinct impressions or feelings like ‘hungry’, ‘happy’ or ‘sick’.
They do have ‘names’ for each other and themselves, usually written out as they ‘speak’ aloud. Thus, Siobhan and Tegaea’s pet is named Grrbyrr because that is the most common sound he makes when he’s not laughing.
Culture: Jesters do not have culture, per se. They do ‘laugh’ competitively to attract a mate, but are too undeveloped to create art or the like.
Technology level: They can learn how to open basic latches, but cannot make anything themselves.
General behaviour: Jesters are a rather friendly and trusting species. Though they have natural predators even the wild ones are relatively fearless when it comes to trying to get food.
Male Jesters rarely stay with their mates long after breeding, leaving the female to look after the pups alone. Fortunately, baby Jesters are able to move quite quickly and follow their mother within a day of birth. However, there is an extremely high mortality rate among the pups in the wild, leading to the high birth rate. This means that in captivity it is generally advisable for the owner to spay or neuter their pets to prevent being overwhelmed.
Jesters compete for females using their laugh, but are not above fighting. The resulting scuffle was described by a visiting human as ‘the most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen’ as the two furry creatures flailed at each other. Quite what the female thinks of this is unknown, but she tends to have her own ‘laugh’ to egg them on, so perhaps there are not as many differences with humans as expected.
Jesters have a fascination for shiny objects. Sadly this can lead them into the path of speeders, onto monorail tracks and other fatal pursuits.
Jesters will usually run and hide from attack, but can deliver a painful nip if cornered. However, since they are so small and squishy their cowardice is highly advisable.
History: Jesters, or Tasaeri as they are known in Eldorai, have been on Kaeshana for as long as records exist. Whether they were created by the Rakata along with the Eldorai, were native, or a mix of the two is unknown. It’s hard to see what role they could have filled for the Rakata, but then again the Rakata were never known for logical applications.
Regardless, the Jesters are native to the many high mountains of Kaeshana, especially the north and east, though they spread to all alpine climates by the time of the first Star Queen Tassaria some 2500 years ago. Their interactions with the Eldorai and Kar’zun originally were limited as the Kar’zun lived in the mountains and took little notice of the furry herbivores. After the Kar’zun were almost exterminated in a genocidal war by the Eldorai though they spread down into the lowlands and into the new farms. Small scale domestication had already taken place before, but now became a common thing.
In more modern times, outsiders to Kaeshana have seen the cute Jesters as pets and many have been bought or smuggled off world to the galaxy.
Notable Player-Characters: None. Tegaea and Siobhan have a pet Jester named Grrbyrr who might get an NPC submission.
Intent: To create a unique creature to populate Kaeshana with. This animal has been part of the Eldorai lore for a long time, but deserves its own entry. It also helps Firemane by giving them something else to sell as pets. Jesters are small, hapless furry creatures which can’t do anything to anything unless it’s a kitchen larder.
