# Making a new species. Need some help.



## Stormcat (Dec 17, 2015)

I'm creating a race of "Chimerids", basically a cross between witches and vampires. Here's What I've written about them so far on my Nationstates factbook:



> You will find Vudnia is populated not by humans, but by vampire-like "Chimerids". Who are these people? what makes them different from humans? Why do they live here? All questions we hope to address.
> Where did these Chimerids come from? nobody knows the true origins, but legends speak of an alchemist who combined the blood of all the earths animals (plus a few other substances that vary from legend to legend) and drank the concoction, transforming himself into the first Chimerid. Either way, these people popped up around the early medieval era in eastern europe. Some spread into asia, others into europe. They were seen as monsters by the common folk and forced into hiding. When they all got together, they found or created the veil that separates the worlds and created the nation of Vudnia. A place where they could live without fear.
> What makes a chimerid different from a human? First off, they have an extra eyelid that allows them to see in the dark better. if light is directly shown on it, eyeshine will develop, making them an obvious sight. They also have a pair of retractable fangs which produce a substance (known as plasmea) that can "infect" a human with a bite and turn them into a chimerid. What sets these people apart most of all is their ability to use brainwaves to manipulate the energy around them. What humans refer to as an "aura" the chimerids term "aureola", and it is a quantifiable, measurable amount of bioelectric energy given off by all living things. Chimerids can manipulated their own aureola to do things like stick to walls, enhance their strength, shoot lightning, and even alter objects on a molecular scale.
> Chimerids can only breed with other chimerids. Humans are extremely rare in Vudnia and are treated with distain, as most chimerids view humans as their "un-evolved" cousins. It is illegal for a chimerid to marry a human, the human party must be transformed through a process known as the "tribulation". The process lasts 38 hours and during this time, the bitten human lies in a coma while the DNA on every living cell in their body is re-written to include the chimerid genes. From a genetic standpoint, humans and chimerids share 99.9% of DNA, but it's that .1% difference that makes everything more complicated.As people fall through the veil from the old world, they are tribulated and transformed into chimerids, because simply once you fall through the veil, there's no going back. The entire african population of Vudnia can trace their ancestry to a missing slave ship known as "God's Grace" which was carrying over 300 african intended slaves and five english slavemasters. The slavemasters were later killed by their former hostages. Not many other citizens can claim lineage to someone in the old world.



Yet despite all my work in creating this race, it still feels incomplete. I know I'm missing key aspects, but I need a more critical eye to help me find the holes and fill them in.


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## aj47 (Dec 17, 2015)

I always thought witch was a profession, not a race/species/whatever, so this is not believable TO ME.


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## Riptide (Dec 17, 2015)

Isn't wiccan the religion and witch the natural... like you're born into it like you're born white, born black, born Latino... born witch?

Anyway, how are these guys different looks wise? Is it just there second eyelid that sets them apart from others. So, I don't really know how apparent that would be but would normal people see that and notice that difference and shoot them down for it? I didn't really get the whole ship thing. On the piece you some times capitalize their species and other times you don't. So which is it? I'll sit on the rest of my thoughts until they develop. Maybe I can actually help with your question.


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## Stormcat (Dec 17, 2015)

Riptide said:


> Isn't wiccan the religion and witch the natural... like you're born into it like you're born white, born black, born Latino... born witch?
> 
> Anyway, how are these guys different looks wise? Is it just there second eyelid that sets them apart from others. So, I don't really know how apparent that would be but would normal people see that and notice that difference and shoot them down for it? I didn't really get the whole ship thing. On the piece you some times capitalize their species and other times you don't. So which is it? I'll sit on the rest of my thoughts until they develop. Maybe I can actually help with your question.



The ship bit was just an explanation as to why there can be black chimerids, even though the original ones never traveled on the African continent.

So anyway, anytime you shine a bright light directly into their eyes, they get the eyeshine effect. Maybe I could throw in some unusual "colors" for hair and eyes but I want these creatures to look as human as possible.

EDIT: Yes, Chimerid is capitalized.


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## aj47 (Dec 17, 2015)

If it's your universe, you can do it that way.  If that's your *gimme* then it probably will work.  For other people.  I'm thinking of all the folks who were put to death by Christians for being witches.  And they were regular folks.  I'm not even sure vampire is anything more than a blood-borne condition.


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## Stormcat (Dec 17, 2015)

astroannie said:


> If it's your universe, you can do it that way.  If that's your *gimme* then it probably will work.  For other people.  I'm thinking of all the folks who were put to death by Christians for being witches.  And they were regular folks.  I'm not even sure vampire is anything more than a blood-borne condition.



I'm not denying that innocent men and women were put to death for the false crime of witchcraft. Hell, on the African continent, some people still are!

But this is my story, and since we know very little about those innocent people, other than those who lived in Salem Massachusetts, I'm saying that a good chunk of them weren't quite human.

Vampirism is another condition that could stat hysteria and you could pin on "that guy" for your own misfortunes. But mostly, the vampirism bit describes the route of "infection".


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## Bishop (Dec 17, 2015)

To me, they just sound like vampires/zombies with night vision. I would want to know what makes them a society, not just physical differences.


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## Stormcat (Dec 17, 2015)

Bishop said:


> To me, they just sound like vampires/zombies with night vision. I would want to know what makes them a society, not just physical differences.



Well, they don't actually consume blood or flesh. They eat normal food. They can blend in with humankind, but if you shine  alight in their face, the secret's out. Also, if they use their powers they are found out.

My Nationstates page is devoted entirely to their society, I just didn't want to bring it up here because I'm focusing on physical aspects of the species, not the soceital.


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## Crowley K. Jarvis (Dec 17, 2015)

What kind of DNA would give such an ability?  Snake fangs are cool and all, but what kind of poison can make cells re-write their DNA? In theory, It would have to spread like a virus, and force the cells to replicate with the new DNA.

  And that process would take much, much more time. If it was sped up,  our metabolism would have to speed up as well, and we'd be eating horses for enough energy to fuel the process. It sounds like something that would have to have been engineered in a lab, instead of being created in or naturally existing since medieval times. 

  Infection is nice as a method of spreading quickly... but once they became more numerous, and started looking down on humans, why would they bother infecting anyone at all? Much less being romantically interested in a human.  Wouldn't that be sort of repugnant, almost?   

The aura idea is interesting, but it sounds too complicated. Such things can just be called 'psionic' or 'telepathic.' A projection of ones mental energy onto other forms of life, or matter.

   I'm guessing they retain their memories? So of course their culture would not be the same world-wide. But I would also be interested how, in general, their society functions.


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## Bishop (Dec 17, 2015)

Stormcat said:


> Well, they don't actually consume blood or flesh. They eat normal food. They can blend in with humankind, but if you shine  alight in their face, the secret's out. Also, if they use their powers they are found out.



Then why are humans so hateful/afraid of them? Because they can propagate by transferring a human into one of their fold? That seems unnecessary, if--as you said--they can breed. In that case, it just makes them humans with fangs and night vision; why would they propagate by the most resistant and violating way, when there's another un-invasive, positive way? I suppose I just don't see an inherent danger in the race--which is fine if its culture is defined and there's a reason for me to take in its world building... but if there's not, and they're just "there", then learning all of this would merely bother me.


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## Stormcat (Dec 17, 2015)

Crowley K. Jarvis said:


> What kind of DNA would give such an ability?  Snake fangs are cool and all, but what kind of poison can make cells re-write their DNA? In theory, It would have to spread like a virus, and force the cells to replicate with the new DNA.
> 
> And that process would take much, much more time. If it was sped up,  our metabolism would have to speed up as well, and we'd be eating horses for enough energy to fuel the process. It sounds like something that would have to have been engineered in a lab, instead of being created in or naturally existing since medieval times.
> 
> ...



This is all psuedo-scientific, so I'm not going for 100% accurate science here. I'll answer your questions.

1. It's not poison, it's a substance known as "Plasmea" which contains virus-like organisms that re-write the DNA.

2. The first chimerid was created in a lab... sort of. An Alchemist tried creating the universal panacea and ended up with this when he foolishly testing his concoction on himself. I don't explain the exact mechanism that originally turned him, I just say it was "The blood of all the different kinds of animals on earth, plus a few other ingredients". Vague enough to spark the imagination.

3. The "looking down on humans" is actually a modern mindset. Originally, they tried living amongst humans peacefully, but when they were discovered they were hunted down and killed. As a result, they had to flee to a new world (I don't explain how they fled the planet, but wibbley-wobbly dimension-bending is the closest explanation, aided of course by their new mental abilities). After 400 years in relative isolation they just assumed the Humans had slaughtered themselves through a series of never-ending wars while the pacifist, intellectual Chimerids have a peaceful existence on their new home. Any Human they find is "re-educated" into the ways of the peaceful Chimerid, which is pretty hypocritical if you think about it.

4. Of course they retain their memories! Part of the drama in my story centers around my MC suffering through a series of traumatic events, and her forceful conversion into Chimerid is the straw that breaks her. She completely loses her shit, and my other MC can't get her to calm down long enough to talk to her and explain what happened.


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## Bishop (Dec 18, 2015)

Stormcat said:


> ...but when they were discovered they were hunted down and killed.



But _why_? What did they do to deserve that?


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## Stormcat (Dec 18, 2015)

Bishop said:


> But _why_? What did they do to deserve that?



They did nothing to deserve that. It was all a product of fear and superstition. If Chimerids were to enter our society nowadays, most people would be like "Oh, that's weird". There might be some prejudice against them, but no one would even think to round up and kill them all. (except maybe Trump and his supporters). It's the old "us vs. them" mentality still seen today, but as we are now more educated and less superstitious, prejudice against "the other" is still seen, even if it doesn't have a sound basis. Why do you think Trump rambles on against the Mexicans? It's because he's an idiot and still subscribes to the "us vs. them" mentality. He can use basically anyone as "them" and it serves to bring his supporters into a tighter cluster, more easy to control.

Chimerids were the "boogeymen" of old. Like anyone we don't understand, they were unjustly demonized for being "different".


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