My Little Pony XXXV: The Thread Everypony Should Know

[Kyouhen]

My terms are do a single drawing every single day, no excuses, for longer than I have. I'm at 240 days and counting. Doesn't have to be a good drawing, just has to get done.

...Nuts. That's going to be harder to beat than I had thought. I can't draw a pile of pictures to make up for it retroactively can I?

Derpy Day is the first of march IIRC. The rules are you have to eat a muffin, take a picture of yourself walleyed (or doing your best to manage it), and send a letter to someone.

If you're ME and CRAZY, you have to give sixty muffins to random strangers in the street, get those strangers to sing a song from My Little Pony (Last year it was Evil Enchantress, this year I'm thinkin' Cupcakes), and get the internet to write you hundreds of uplifting letters and distribute those letters to random strangers.

Best day.

Oooohhhh, that sounds fun! Not too sure how many people I could get to sing songs, but the rest of it could be amusing.

[the_druid_droid]

@Gaelbert: I do watch a little American football, but only enough to not be completely lost when it comes up. My bigger passion is basketball but due to several confounding factors I don't usually get to watch it...

Color me chagrined at not getting the fanfic idea as being a joke - I've been very out of it lately though and having to sneak updates from my phone between sessions hasn't helped my perspective...anywho gimme some time and I can generate some topics in science to ponify perhaps.

@Thanqol: Is it a bad sign that Discorded Mask sounds like an inner voice I used to have and that still struggles to pop up now and again?

Also, I made a resolution to celebrate more holidays, so count me in for Derpy Day!

@Rest of Ponythread: How are you all so awesome?

[TheAmishPirate]

@Rest of Ponythread: How are you all so awesome?

A strict diet of fancy hats, rainbows, and cheese omletes.

[Capt. Ido Nos]

Derpy Day is the first of march IIRC. The rules are you have to eat a muffin, take a picture of yourself walleyed (or doing your best to manage it), and send a letter to someone.

If you're ME and CRAZY, you have to give sixty muffins to random strangers in the street, get those strangers to sing a song from My Little Pony (Last year it was Evil Enchantress, this year I'm thinkin' Cupcakes), and get the internet to write you hundreds of uplifting letters and distribute those letters to random strangers.

Best day.

If you'll excuse me, I need to go re-learn how to go walleyed on cue.

[Geno9999]

A strict diet of fancy hats, rainbows, and cheese omletes.

Same for me, except replace the cheese omletes with Pepperoni Pizza. Also, Root Beer.

[Lix Lorn]

Derpy Day is the first of march IIRC. The rules are you have to eat a muffin, take a picture of yourself walleyed (or doing your best to manage it), and send a letter to someone.

If you're ME and CRAZY, you have to give sixty muffins to random strangers in the street, get those strangers to sing a song from My Little Pony (Last year it was Evil Enchantress, this year I'm thinkin' Cupcakes), and get the internet to write you hundreds of uplifting letters and distribute those letters to random strangers.

Best day.

Wait
Isn't everyone THanqol? Do we all have to?
I mean, I have other things to do!

[Kyouhen]

Wait
Isn't everyone THanqol? Do we all have to?
I mean, I have other things to do!

Yes, everyone is Thanqol for Thanqol, like yourself, is the universe. Therefore it is impossible for him to give 60 muffins to 60 random strangers because in reality all he is doing is giving the muffins to himself!

Really Thanqol, not cool. Buying all those muffins and keeping them for yourself. Shame on you.

[BlasTech]

*Drops in to ponythread briefly*

Only 2 things to say:

@ Gael: Welcome back, sorry never replied to your new year's letter but I really have no idea what to say to it. *Gives hug instead*

@ rest of ponythread:

Ep 12 comic of awesomeness.

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[Beacon of Chaos]

Hey, Diego, don't be too hard on yourself... Not only were you first, you had Leaf shinobi ninja! That's still awesome!

Sad pony?

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Thanks. But your sadface make all

Thanks for the kind words, all. Totally over it already though. If I got all upset everytime someone drew better than me, I'd never get anywhere. Sorry if I upset you with Pinkamena though. Have some happy pinkie to make up for it:

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I'm making people explode and it's a good thing! I'm glad you liked it

"Don't worry! Blowing up is good for you!"

Stuff came, and so I snatched the use of my Mum's camera quick, and she's sliding off to Austraila for three weeks this afternoon...

Non-pony:

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First off, ages ago, I said I'd dig out some of my 25mm Undead stuff as a rough indicator of what the Aotrs armour looks like, so I did that! (Again, the actual armour is only fairly close to this, but these fall in the preveiw of "close enough" for my purposes. So, take the models with a grain of salt, as they weren't done with the intention of being me and Hopereaver!)

So, I found out a me, a Hopereaver and a WarDroid. I was surprised, actually, to find a Snake Launcher dude who was actually surprisingly close - sans helmet and everything! (My skull is not as bashed up though!) But under the circumstances, that's actually not too far off at all. The Darkmistress isn't very like Hopereaver, though (hair's wrong colour -

- And my make-up applications skills are not as bad as the Jokers!

-quite! And *skullpalm* also Hopereaver's armour is actually fully covering like, mine, which I just noticed as I type this, I didn't paint on the model (what with it being intended a Dark Mistress (i.e. from Dungeon Keeper), so actually is even less right, but I was in a bit of a hurry because I wanted to get done before Mum left. Oh well!

The WarDroid is not far off though.



The secret proj walker-girl-robots came in, too:

And a picture with the me for scale.


And finally, you may recall I tried doing a skull, and this is what it looks like in situ on the Keening Abyss (open mouth)


and Hoarfrost (closed mouth).


Quite successful, no?

Very cool stuff! I imagined Hopereaver with shorter hair though Your armour is pretty awesome.

Good to see how those little spider-bot things worked out.

[Soras Teva Gee]

Ep 12 comic of awesomeness.

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For a businesspony one would think Filthy Rich would better realize how utterly pointless that was under Intellectual Property law.And for that matter he wouldn't be paying royalties in the first place to be a vendor.

[Thanqol]

...Nuts. That's going to be harder to beat than I had thought. I can't draw a pile of pictures to make up for it retroactively can I?

There are days when I've updated three or more times, sometimes with fifty or more sketches. Walking that road is, if anything, harder.

I understand if you're not up to it, though.

@Thanqol: Is it a bad sign that Discorded Mask sounds like an inner voice I used to have and that still struggles to pop up now and again?

Heh, that thought is still a regular aspect of the Charger thought pattern, and she regards anyone she does not respect with contempt. I do have an incredibly asocial side. It takes Mask to articulate, because Charger is far too precise to make a faux pas like that, but that's where the thought's core comes from.

Yes, everyone is Thanqol for Thanqol, like yourself, is the universe. Therefore it is impossible for him to give 60 muffins to 60 random strangers because in reality all he is doing is giving the muffins to himself!

Really Thanqol, not cool. Buying all those muffins and keeping them for yourself. Shame on you.

I feel like I had to develop three layers of enlightenment to comprehend this post.

In which case, selfish motives are revealed. If I am well fed on luxurious muffins then my people will be stronger, better armed and spiritually more in sync with the great Derpy, paving the way for our inevitable invasion.

You... caught me?

[Pokonic]

In which case, selfish motives are revealed. If I am well fed on luxurious muffins then my people will be stronger, better armed and spiritually more in sync with the great Derpy, paving the way for our inevitable invasion.

You... caught me?

....Everyone, hand out the cupcakes and pies! We are going to war!

[Kyouhen]

There are days when I've updated three or more times, sometimes with fifty or more sketches. Walking that road is, if anything, harder.

I understand if you're not up to it, though.

Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easily.

I feel like I had to develop three layers of enlightenment to comprehend this post.

In which case, selfish motives are revealed. If I am well fed on luxurious muffins then my people will be stronger, better armed and spiritually more in sync with the great Derpy, paving the way for our inevitable invasion.

You... caught me?

....Everyone, hand out the cupcakes and pies! We are going to war!

We must fire up the ovens OF WAR! Mix the delicious batter OF WAR! And arm ourselves with glorious cakes OF WAR to defeat this WAR! muffin conquest of WAR!

[Forum Explorer]

....Everyone, hand out the cupcakes and pies! We are going to war!

So the rumors of an apple/cupcake alliance are true huh? Don't worry forces of Derpy, the scones shall stand by your side!

[Geno9999]

....Everyone, hand out the cupcakes and pies! We are going to war!

Wait, if everyone is Thanqol, it would be a war of himself against himself!
IT'S A FIGHT WE CAN'T WIN OR LOSE!!!

[Pokonic]

So the rumors of an apple/cupcake alliance are true huh? Don't worry forces of Derpy, the scones shall stand by your side!

You fool! We have the crepes and croissants on are side! You will fall to the hoofs of buttery goodness!

[Thanqol]

Oh no, you're not getting out of this that easily.

That's the spirit! You can do it!

And if you ever decide to draw a picture of Metal Mask in the period before you, y'know, burn out, remember that the mask's eyes are pure 255/255/255 white no matter the prevailing illumination or shadows and there's no mouth.

....Everyone, hand out the cupcakes and pies! We are going to war!

We must fire up the ovens OF WAR! Mix the delicious batter OF WAR! And arm ourselves with glorious cakes OF WAR to defeat this WAR! muffin conquest of WAR!

Wait, if everyone is Thanqol, it would be a war of himself against himself!
IT'S A FIGHT WE CAN'T WIN OR LOSE!!!

It seems it is to be war then.

*Dramatically rips off cloak, revealing two ponies and a griffon piloting a humanoid robot*

Charger: TO PROTECT EQUESTRIA FROM DEVASTATION!
Jayden: TO UNITE ALL PONIES WITHIN OUR NATION!
Charger: TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE!
Jayden: TO UPPERCUT THE STARS ABOVE!
Charger: TEAM THANQOL WILL NOW REVEAL IT'S TRUE MIGHT!
Jayden: SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!

Mask: Meeeeask! That's right!

[Orzel]

A war?

Chocolate Liquor's Totally Neutral Bakery and Arms Shop is now open For business.

*sits patiently*

Now Hiring!

[Kyouhen]

That's the spirit! You can do it!

And if you ever decide to draw a picture of Metal Mask in the period before you, y'know, burn out, remember that the mask's eyes are pure 255/255/255 white no matter the prevailing illumination or shadows and there's no mouth.

Trying to decide if I want to go with pencils or stick with my glorious paints. Pencils refuse to obey my will but paints love me. I'll probably stick with paint. >_>

It seems it is to be war then.

*Dramatically rips off cloak, revealing two ponies and a griffon piloting a humanoid robot*

Charger: TO PROTECT EQUESTRIA FROM DEVASTATION!
Jayden: TO UNITE ALL PONIES WITHIN OUR NATION!
Charger: TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE!
Jayden: TO UPPERCUT THE STARS ABOVE!
Charger: TEAM THANQOL WILL NOW REVEAL IT'S TRUE MIGHT!
Jayden: SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!

Mask: Meeeeask! That's right!

...
*Tazes the entire group*

[Thanqol]

...
*Tazes the entire group*

Jayden: Oh-ho-ho, using a taser on a Forces mage?

*Transforms the electrical energy into velocity, which she then adds to her uppercut counterattack*

Jayden: WALL-SOCKET PUNCH NO-JUTSU!

[PrinceAquilaDei]

I love you Thanqol, in an up until now anonymous and mute yet entirely platonic, sane and non-creepy way. You have always been an inspiration.

Others have tried. They've failed. Still more are trying. It's only a matter of time before they fail too. I know for a fact that I am better than everypony else here, that when I commit to things I alone have the strength of will to see them through to the end. No one else can contest me, not seriously.

And so I can be fairly free with my encouragement. If I'm free with my encouragement, chances are you'll draw more pictures of my characters before you inevitably burn out and fail, and I value people drawing pictures of my characters. Selfish motives are present behind every honeyed word.

And at the end of the day, you shall fail and I shall succeed. It's not your fault. It's just a case of me being better than you. And I can be magnanimous in victory.


Charger: You weren't meant to ever say that out loud.
Discord'd Mask: They wanted a challenge.

You've inspired me and now you've challenged me. Fine, you're on. I'll be back soon enough. I owe you great thanks though, because you just prompted me to break an over nine month long phase of lurking(I am not exaggerating, fetuses could have develped in less time than I've been keeping to the shadows).

And as for the rest of you magical gang, I love you all too, as much as I am allowed without making you uncomfortable. This feels like the beginning of something good.

[Thanqol]

I love you Thanqol, in an up until now anonymous and mute yet entirely platonic, sane and non-creepy way. You have always been an inspiration.

You've inspired me and now you've challenged me. Fine, you're on. I'll be back soon enough. I owe you great thanks though, because you just prompted me to break an over nine month long phase of lurking(I am not exaggerating, fetuses could have develped in less time than I've been keeping to the shadows).

And as for the rest of you magical gang, I love you all too, as much as I am allowed without making you uncomfortable. This feels like the beginning of something good.

Aw, thank you That's my second favourite type of love. Welcome aboard, sir. I don't think anything would please me more than having that sentiment disproved.

[the_druid_droid]

We must fire up the ovens OF WAR! Mix the delicious batter OF WAR! And arm ourselves with glorious cakes OF WAR to defeat this WAR! muffin conquest of WAR!

Let my armies be the cookies and pastries and cruellers in the bakery!

[Rebelhero]

A war....With pastries as the ammo?
GOOD CELESTIA WHY DIDN'T WE THINK OF THIS!
Sky rocket! Convert the Airship into a flying Bakery!

Have you really been so bored that you are going to jump into a food fight?

ADVENTUREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

*Facehoof*
*Facehoof*
*Facehoof*

And in other news.
it seems bethdesda is getting overrun with the ponies.

Let my armies be the cookies and pastries and cruellers in the bakery!

I seemed to have remembered my Pinkemange.

[Pokonic]

A war?

Chocolate Liquor's Totally Neutral Bakery and Arms Shop is now open For business.

*sits patiently*

Now Hiring!

In Equestria, there the same thing. Pies have been equated to gunshots twice. Remember, Pinkie was launching them at grown-up Spike by the hoofull.

Let my armies be the cookies and pastries and cruellers in the bakery!

Praise the creme lords! Fire up the fryers! Glaze the donuts!

Tonight, we eat, decandently!

[Capt. Ido Nos]

A war is it? Dally it all I do LOVE a good war!

*rips off shirt, ties it around his head*

*runs around waving cardboard tubes in the air like swords*

[Orzel]

In Equestria, there the same thing. Pies have been equated to gunshots twice. Remember, Pinkie was launching them at grown-up Spike by the hoofull.

That's the joke, son. You're built too low. The fast ones go ova your head. Ya got a hole in your glove. I keep pitchin' 'em and you keep missin' 'em. Ya gotta keep your eye on the ball. Eye. Ball. I almost had a gag, son. A joke, that is. You gotta - I say, you gotta keep on your toes. Toes, that is. Focus.

*turns to the camera*

Nice kid, but about as sharp as a sack of wet bunnies.

[Thanqol]

A war is it? Dally it all I do LOVE a good war!

*rips off shirt, ties it around his head*

*runs around waving cardboard tubes in the air like swords*

Charger: *Draws sword, severs cardboard tubes, claps hands together and releases a thundershock directly into Ido from her electrical buzzers.*

"Put your shirt back on."

[Aotrs Commander]

Very cool stuff! I imagined Hopereaver with shorter hair though Your armour is pretty awesome.

It actually is (inch or so below my chin height when it's loose, in fact), Bleakbane was just rather restricted with what female heads he had for those figures.

Yeah, there was like, one. Also, turns out, as I was putting those away, I found I did actually have one in normal armour (though with a rifle, which Hopereaver doesn't tend to use), which had blue hair, which is even slightly closer to Hopereaver's actual colour.

*Dramatically rips off cloak, revealing two ponies and a griffon piloting a humanoid robot*

Charger: TO PROTECT EQUESTRIA FROM DEVASTATION!
Jayden: TO UNITE ALL PONIES WITHIN OUR NATION!
Charger: TO DENOUNCE THE EVILS OF FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE!
Jayden: TO UPPERCUT THE STARS ABOVE!
Charger: TEAM THANQOL WILL NOW REVEAL IT'S TRUE MIGHT!
Jayden: SURRENDER NOW OR PREPARE TO FIGHT!

Mask: Meeeeask! That's right!

Aha. I see Thanqol's mind has finally snapped like a brittle twig.



So ponythread.

I have been giving some though to what the race of my kunai fleet should be, and after a very long wrestle with my conscionence, have decided to go with a pony-inspired concept.

I thus present the current, first pass, write up on: the Jalyrkieon.

Anyone willing to brave the depths of my lengthy insanity is encouraged to comment, (and after the spoiler there are one or two things that merit discussion that relate to unicorns and don't require the reading of it for those with less time or inclination!)

Note: it sometimes takes me a couple of passes to pick up some of my mistakes, clarifications and so on (usually one from a cold reading at a later date), so bear that in mind, though I have at least spell-checked it this time! Once I sent something to one of Dad's work collegues, and he wasn't impressed, and nor was I when I went back through it! I'd made a pretty terrible mess of spelling and words (though to be fair, I'd been in a rush to get done, I'm normally not bad!)

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The Jalyrkieons are an unusual race of quadrupeds with an innate telekinetic talent. They are located quite close to the Vivrathk Aggression, and the two races have a long history of conflict.

A Jalyrkieon has a body shape roughly comparable to a terrestrial equine. They stand about four feet tall at the withers , and weigh around 550-600lbs, being quite stockily built. They are not covered by a covering of hair, like a horse, but a thick skin, more like a hippopotamus. Hair is present in a ruff from the forehead down to the withers, and again in the tail, which, like an equines, is mostly vestigial made and composed of little else.

They can be varied in colour, from deep purple through to an ocean blue, with some ethnicities tending to green or turquoise. Eye and hair colour tends to be much more varied, though the former tends more towards “warm” shades and the latter to “cold.” Extremes like black or white hair are biologically impossible – the lack pigmentation due to age or the equivalent of albinism tends to be towards a muted blue-grey. (Though hair dye for those colours is not unheard of, but is as unusual as a human dyeing their hair blue or green.)

The most immediate obvious difference from a terrestrial equine is in the head, however. A Jalyrkieon’s head is more foreshortened than a typical equine, and with a much larger forehead, which situates both the much larger brain and eyes. These are set in a spectroscopic formation slightly above the nose, which has a more distinctively “pinched” look.

The head is tipped with a set of four short horns. Two project slightly forward, over the eyes, leaning slightly to either side of the vertical plane, and two others point backward, just over the ears. The horns are sturdy and sharp enough to be defensive weapons in their own right. However, their primary purpose is to direct and control the Jalyrkieon’s natural telekinesis.

Another large difference becomes obvious when a Jalyrkieon opens their mouth. Unlike a terrestrial equine, a Jalyrkieon has a mouth of sharp, ripping and slashing teeth. The ancestors of the Jalyrkieon were carnivores.

The Jalyrkieon homeworld, Plenadi, is notable for being one of the most dangerous natural environments to be populated by a sentient species, full of highly dangerous predators and equally well-armed herbivores and even the plant-life tends to be hazardous and poisonous (and sometimes even predatory itself). The Jalyrkieon stock evolved from an early ungulate-type of creature on the planet’s copious planes. Limited telekinesis is a trait of the entire zoological order that the Jalyrkieon belong to, though only their family have developed to a significant level. The protoJalyrkieon stock developed increased brain-power as this telekinesis became more powerful, and in concert with the groups that they lived in, not unlike how terrestrial primates brain-size increases with social groups. One big difference is that in the split analogous to “monkeys” and “apes”, the Jalyrkieon line became predators. They evolved to exploit the vacuum left by the extinction of a larger group of animals (not unlike how Mesonychids evolved to become predators after the extinction of the dinosaurs).

As the climate changed during the Plenadi’s prehistory, an a period of glacial and interglacial periods began, the protoJalyrkieons were driven ever further towards the equatorial regions, where intelligence became a survival trait in the extremely dangerous jungles and tropical floodplain-swamps.

While it is true that Jalyrkieons are carnivores, it is true in the same sense that canids are carnivores. Meat is an important part of their diet, but they are by no means exclusively carnivorous. (Their closest living relatives are scavenging specialists, best characterised as behaving like something between a chimpanzee and a hyena.)

Jalyrkieon physiology is robust. When removed from the numerous cumulative poisons, diseases and stresses of the natural world, they have an astonishing constitution, and a natural healing that is close to actual regeneration. It is estimated that their rate of recuperation is perhaps five times that of a typical hominoid. They do not sleep in long period, but in short bursts through the day cycle, with periodic intervals of actual REM sleep of a few hours per week. Their physical strength is very good for their size (even though the more physically inclined tend to rely on their telekinesis), and their endurance is prestigious. Their digestive system is able to handle a wide variety of foodstuffs, allowing them to eat a wider range of alien foods, though meat remains their favoured dietary component. This intestinal fortitude is the legacy of life in the vicious natural world of Plenadi, as meals come infrequently, and often at risk (even for herbivores), so a hearty digestive system is a must.

Their five senses are quite sharp – another necessity of life – though their vision and hearing is not quite as acute as a Elf’s, their sense of smell and taste makes up for it. Their sense of touch is somewhat below average, aside from the tactile portion of their telekinesis (which is considerably higher.)

Viviparous reproduction is almost a must on Plenadi, as staying still long enough to lay eggs is a recipe for disaster unless the creature is especially well adapted. In this harsh environment, the Jalyrkieon family group develops mobility and size very fast – like terrestrial horses, a Jalyrkieon foal is capable of walking within hours of birth – though their mental and sexual development is much slower, the latter pronouncedly so. This may seem contrary to expectations, in light of the dangerous environment, but the Jalyrkieon order’s breeding strategy is more heavily biased towards parental investment, and indeed, this was one of the other driving factors in the Jalyrkieon’s intellectual evolution. This allowed more young to reach sexual maturity, as opposed to simply relying on minimal parental investment after birth as many of the “lower” orders of Plenadi do, and one of the reasons that the Jalyrkieon’s order currently dominates.

Jalyrkieons demonstrate some sexual dimorphism – the males tend to be slightly larger – but otherwise, the difference between the two sexes is not readily apparent. They reach adult size in what is the equivalent of only three or four years, though it takes around eighteen years to reach mental maturity and sexual maturity another four or five years. Juvenile Jalyrkieons are still distinguishable by their more muted colour-scheme (reaching sexual maturity is often referred to as the “flush” referring to the sharpening or even change in the skin-colour.)

This slow maturity rate, particularly of sexuality, is one of the reasons that the Vivrathk and the Jalyrkieons are particularly at odds. Even more than humans do (who the Jalyrkieons have had only anecdotal contact with), the Jalyrkieons find the Vivrathk positively pedarastic, given the latter’s very early sexual maturity and corresponding relaxed standards of societal sexual behaviour.

Jalyrkieons thus have a very strong parental urge, and when their young are endangered, they have been known to go quite berserk, with a notable considerable boost in their telekinetic powers.



Jalyrkieon telekinesis is extremely powerful. It is not well understood, even by the Jalyrkieon themselves, but has both psionic and magical components, and resistant to anti-supernatural fields; while their range and power is reduced, it is very difficult to negate completely. The effect is mostly non-luminescent, though considerable effort from highly skilled individuals can cause the horns and target to dimly glow. (The colour of this glow varies, but is usually white or very pale blue.)

In effect, each of the four horns controls a telekinetic “limb” (though this is greatly oversimplifying), allowing them as much and more manipulatory ability than most creatures with hands and fingers. Their strength is difficult to measure precisely, but can be roughly estimated as being slightly above human average with each “limb” and considerable strength when combined.

The range of this ability is essentially divided into two parts.
They can “feel” with their telekinetic powers with greatest precision close to the horn, where their fine control is greatest. Beyond about half a meter or so, this fine control drops sharply, and they are only capable of more general motions. As an analogue, the difference between the “control radius”, as it is termed, and the extent of their range (“reach radius”) is akin to the difference between hands and arms. Both radius vary by natural talent, and training – such as Jalyrkieon military forces undergo – can significantly improve both.

The “limb” analogy is not a very clear indicator, however, since Jalyrkieon telekinesis is somewhat more flexible than a corporeal limb. Each horn is capable of accomplishing very fine manipulation within the control radius somewhat finer than to what a human might manage with their fingers only in a small diameter, somewhere between six and twelve inches, depending on skill and training. They can manage to manipulate objects in greater numbers over a wider area, though not to the same extent. They could certainly hold a large number of books and flip the pages, but cannot operate more than four devices with small buttons at once. The more area they are forced to spread their telekinesis over, the less strength they can apply (meaning a Jalyrkieon lifting a heavy object will usually lift from one to four places, must as a hominoid with limbs would do.)

Jalyrkieons have very large brains in comparison to their body size, significantly more than most hominoids. Their brains are divided into four lobes, rather than two, each one having control over one horn, as hominoids have left and right hemispheres. Most of this extra brain-matter is dedicated to processing their telekinetic abilities. They are capable of multitasking to a significant degree, and essentially their “telekinetic limbs” can each be doing independent tasks, or working coherently. This ability is somewhat limited by the fact they still have some limits on their ability to process data. They could, say, with some effort and practise, assemble four kits from components simultaneously, though they couldn’t operate something that requires non-tactile input (be it visual, cognitive or auditory) with each horn separately, i.e. they cannot use four separate scanners at once.

Jalyrkieons are able to use their telekinesis very effectively as weapons. While they are not especially adept at hurling large cumbersome objects (like creatures) around, their ability to throw small blades or manipulate simple weapons is extremely high, and the simplicity of such actions means they can often use several with frightening proficiency.

Modern Jalyrkieon soldiers are noted for being very heavily armed for infantry, many carrying the equivalent of two or three rifles or four pistols, which they can use simultaneously (skilled individuals – the sort that would use twin pistols in a hominoid race – can use even more. This makes the amount of fire put out from a Jalyrkieon infantry squad vastly better than a typical hominoid one. (This is somewhat countered, however, by their higher and less easily concealed target profile, however.) With their greater ability to carry munitions as well, due to their body shape lending itself well to portaging, they can also carry a consummate supply of power cells or ammunition. Consequently, anti-armour weapons are also seen in greater numbers in infantry units.

They also have a series of martial arts, which extend beyond the physical to applications of telekinesis. In particular, a trained Jalyrkieon can deliver a telekinetic thrust of enormous strength, and many of these strikes are designed to concentrate as much force as possible in one area, and are thus closing to piercing strikes than bludgeoning ones. (Indeed, a master of the art can inflict wounds akin to ballistic firearms at short ranges).

More subtle and dangerous are the one which extend the control radius of the Jalyrkieon to be able to force an attack inside the body of an opponent (something that normally requires impracticable amounts of effort, concentration and time to do) and literally crush their organs or close off vital blood vessels, leading to incapacitation of death. Some of these arts use physical blows to direct the telekinesis attacks, while the highest forms are unnoticeable and purely mental.

The fight for survival in their prehistory has – not unlike the Vivrathk, as irony would have it – made the Jalyrkieons very aggressive. Their expansionist goals are characterised with a certain cold ruthlessness with regard to other races that distinguishes them from their closest neighbours. This attitude in modern Jalyrkieons was not helped along by their period as a vassal of the Strayvian Empire, until it’s collapse and their abrupt seizure of independence.

The Jalyrkieons were defeated quite badly in their last war against the Vivrathk, and have been undergoing a lengthy period of refitting and rearming in the last couple of decades. This period is coming to a close as it is likely not long before a new war breaks out between the two.

At some point I might try drawing one, maybe, though if anyone else wants to take a crack at it, I think pretty much any of you could do a better job than me...!



So, all that brought up an interesting question. If you use telekinesis as your primary manipulative apparatus - as unicorns and Jalyrkieons do - what would a gun designed for you, look like?

Specifically, what would you do for a trigger? The design constriants would be entirely different to those of monkey-fingers, so what would you use? (And unlike the show, we're assuming it doesn't have to be recognisable by young audience.) A button? A lever? And where would you put it, considering you'll be holding it with TK? (Or rather, where would it be best to put it?) I must admit, for once I am at something of a loss and would definately like some suggestions.



Also, what should be the title of their race We've already got Empires and Kingdoms, Federations and Confederations, Dominions and Aggressions (and they sorta are in the bad guy file) - so, what do you reckon, ponythread? Something different and unusual would be cool.



I have also come to a conclusion, that when it comes to the Jalyrkieon - specifically for naming vehicles, ships and ship classes, that ponythread is going to have the entirely dubious honour of unwittingly helping me.

When I normally do things in alien languages, I cobble up something that uses a subset of letters or sounds that seem consistent. This is actually quite hard work (especially by the time you're onto the, what, fifth or sixth race, not including the fantasy languages on your campaign world) it gets quite hard. Thus I am intending to use, as my source of syllable clusters, the collection of your screen-names of ponythread.
(Unless anyone has an extremely violent need not to have nothing more than three coterminous letters of their screen name (if that) to be randomly stuck with other people's (assuming you could be sure it even came from yours), though why anyone might would be a mystery...)
Indeed, I have already done so, using the names of the Mane and some supporting cast for both the world and race name of the Jalyrkieons (no-prizes for anyone untangling which ones..!)

Which I will probably start tomorrow, since doing all the thinking for the Jalyrkieons has been fragging mentally exhausting!

[otakuryoga]

for your amusement.....

z..z..zombie ponies.....

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o m g the hnnnng

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2nd star to the right, and straight on til morning

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