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Racial Lifespans and Aging?

Discussion in 'Starbound Discussion' started by sansy, Dec 23, 2014.

  1. BloodyFingers

    BloodyFingers The End of Time

    Actually, while Florans are a humanoid plant species, are they based on trees for a fact? They don't look barkskinned to me, like Groot, from the official arts I've saw. And flora, with the exception of larger trees, are not that long-lived. It's more of a constant cycle of wilting/regrowing. But then I'm basing myself on local flora. Who knows what's it like out there...
     
  2. Hoddmimir

    Hoddmimir Cosmic Narwhal

    Well there are also plenty of plants that technically live a very long time but seem as though they don't because their flowering parts die out in winter and then they grow up from their roots again in warmer seasons. So plants really run the gambit. Now we can assume they are plants, not fungus, lichens, etc... so yeah I think the big question is are they more like flowers, trees, or ivys? Just based on Greenfinger I want to say they are more like trees. Also I think somewhere it is mentioned their blood is more like sap.
     
  3. BloodyFingers

    BloodyFingers The End of Time

    Hmm, that is something to ponder. Do plants die and reborn during winter or they just enter a state of torpor/semideath (antropomorphizing plants a bit to fit the floran's phisiology) until the conditions are appropriate for a rebound? That would mean that Florans not only live long, they are kind of undying as well (you defeat one, and he/she shall sprout again from their remains. Unless you kill them with fire).

    Their skin looks more stalk-ish to me. So I assumed they were flower-like.
     
  4. Hoddmimir

    Hoddmimir Cosmic Narwhal

    Stalk-ish could also be a reed, grass, or sedge. Of course Bamboo is also very grass like but is considered to be a tree. Bamboo actually is an interesting concept because it grows extremely fast, reaching full maturity in 2-3 years and then at about 10 years of age it's structural integrity is completely undermined by fungus which causes the bamboo to decompose and collapse. If Floran were bamboo like they would grow very quickly and live very short lives presumably due to the actions of fungal infestation.
     
  5. Lecic

    Lecic Hard-To-Destroy Reptile

    Their skin is stalkish, but if it was like bark, they probably wouldn't be able to move. See Oaken Soldiers, who undergo the drysap procedure and slowly turn too woodlike and stiff to move. I'm imagine Floran BONES are wooden, since stems aren't usually good at supporting something things that are 5-6 feet tall and decently wide.

    Considering they have sap-for-blood and Greenfinger's (presumably unaltered) lifespan, I think they probably have tree-like life spans.
     
  6. BloodyFingers

    BloodyFingers The End of Time

    I dunno, Groot seemed to move around fine. Then again he looked more barkscaled than barkskinned.
    I'm also assuming Greenfinger have altered lifespan. He's not your ordinary Floran, that's for sure.
    It's just that something that lives long and spreads fast can easily become an infestation. But then maybe that's exactly what Florans are, if left unchecked.
     
  7. Lobardi

    Lobardi Star Wrangler

    What if we took the life span of captive species into the equation? (Assuming a slave counts as a zoo exhibit or something similar) Then we could have a good base number for how long a certain species would live for, bringing up the natural side of things leaves too many variables.

    But an idea for Florians is that they would spend their whole lives growing until they decide to pollinate, constant wars would allow them to have longer lives in theory if their just a bit too busy... that's assuming they are flower-like, if not; and they were actually trees after all then I would assume that technically live forever; but why would you want to besides just sticking to the concept of constant fighting? (Could explain why their traditions stick around)

    But my ideas are purely superficial, I'm more of an outside opinion; never having played a Florian.
     
  8. Hoddmimir

    Hoddmimir Cosmic Narwhal

    I don't think Floran have bones. I think they use turgor pressure to cause rigidity. Meaning dehydration would be a major concern.
     
  9. Lobardi

    Lobardi Star Wrangler

    So... Like hydraulics? Maybe, but that would make them a bit too fragile.

    Seeing as Florain's(At least from my experiance) seem to have to kind of attraction to everything being made out of bone, maybe they do have a bit of envy for not having them?... Or it's more use full than learning to make things out of steel. Could go either way at this point, both having bones or not seem plausible.
     
  10. BloodyFingers

    BloodyFingers The End of Time

    I think the whole bone thing is more of a trophy to them, as they have hunting as a llifestyle.
     
    Tamorr and Hoddmimir like this.
  11. Tamorr

    Tamorr Supernova

    maybe and maybe not. After all their blood is like sap, but I have seen various kinds of sap; some run slow and some just a bit slower than human blood. This would mean it must be pretty dense/thick. In human blood water is needed just as much, so in essence the thicker the blood runs the less water would be needed; hence the diet of primarily meat for floran. Just theory as I don't really know myself.

    I could actually see floran with or without bones, could be a mixture of the two. Some major parts would have a bark similar to cartilage, while the minor ones a tubular pressure systems to work along side them. Almost reminds me on how hydraulics somewhat work, even if not the same. I imagine their skin is a fiber like that of stalks with an inner fleshy part that would be more like another type of cartilage made of plant that is a bit more solid, but squishy. Since they are rigorous in what they do, I'd imagine something similar to calisus (don't know how to spell that one) that form on human that do specific labor often enough. stiffening/hardening the skin a bit.

    There are many possibilities of what it could be. One thing is for certain t is like any other organism based on fluids. Humans have blood, they have sap.
     
  12. Hoddmimir

    Hoddmimir Cosmic Narwhal


    The difference is that Animals have bones, and rigid plants don't. They have turgor pressure and then woody fiberous material. If floran are plants then they presumably use these two methods for rigidity and since they are capable of movement, turgor pressure seems more reasonable. Though woody plating or skin is fine. It would just have to be like scales so it did not impede movement.
     
  13. BloodyFingers

    BloodyFingers The End of Time

    Look for arid planets. I've seen one with bone sub biome and I found a few different skulls. I found an avian skull, a hylotl skull (complete with three eyesockets) and a Glitch skull (not actually a skull, more like their inactive head, but at least they tried - to paraphrase it's description). If the floran have bones their skull might be found there.


    Oooh, exploration with scientific purposes sounds exciting :DD
     
    Hoddmimir likes this.
  14. Lobardi

    Lobardi Star Wrangler

    Would a Florian (If it had bones or not) factor much into the over all age of it? I could see the fact that it would cause them to show more signs of their age but apart from that I can see no reason for it to cause a longer/shorter life span.

    If we can assume (Excluding the glitch, hylotl and the nova) that other life forms are carbon based and that they use a similar type of medicine, ages should be roughly the same. These species all do trade and live beside one another so I don't think advances in medicine/surgery can factor that much into it. Space age stims are a little bit hard to predict what exactly they can do to every creature out there in the wide universe.
     
  15. Tamorr

    Tamorr Supernova

    That is what I was getting at with have a cartilage like bone structure made of a woody like composition. So it would be flexible enough to work along side a turgor pressure system. At least in theory. Since turgor is quite similar to hydrolics, but not the same. At least from the description. They move in a way snakes wind down or up slopes, or would think. What I was thinking is the Turgor is part work with the cartilage like bone made of wood, kind of like how a human muscle would be. After all they don't unravel like carnage or venom. (I know they are not exactly plants, but pretty in the way they form like interweaving itself till forms the body/appearance it wants)

    Well that is the idea, after all they do move similar to humans and not like your basic plant that utilizes turgor alone. That is why I was thinking possible is is the muscles that wraps around the flesh and bone(well bendy wood similar to how carilage is) under a couple layers; one being the skin and the other a bit of flesh for insulation. After all Floran are obviously more complex then some of the more simple plants.

    Quite possible, as the other races it affects certain traits. It just mainly how it funcitons in order to determine length of lifespan. How well it holds up to deterioration over time. Resilience to natural surrounds, and how well they hold themselves up due to this. It is debatable whether it will factor in or not.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2014
  16. fatherjimbo

    fatherjimbo Void-Bound Voyager

    Aren't Novakids based off of stars? Stars live a VERY long time. Millions of years. So how long would their lifespan be?
     
  17. Tamorr

    Tamorr Supernova

    even so a novakid would not remember their age anyhow, so statistics might be a bit skewed...lol
    I would imagine it would be a fraction of a stars' lifespan which is still pretty lengthy, not that it would matter to them I would think; they always have something on their mind. Whether that is a hat or their next endeavor...

    So theoretically they would live pretty long. I just would not want to be around when they die...><
     
  18. 409

    409 Big Damn Hero

    Fictional characters are immortal unless the person writing them says they die.

    /ultrasmug
     
  19. Hoddmimir

    Hoddmimir Cosmic Narwhal


    Stars exist for millions and billions of years but essentially they are burning balls of gas. Fusion produces heavier and heavier elements and continues to burn those creating even heavier elements until eventually there isn't enough lighter elements to fuse and the star collapses and dies. They "live" so long only because there is so much material. Novakids have substantially less material. If they were truly burning the way stars do they would last probably only seconds. Being generous I think we can give them at least 40 years.
     
  20. Presios Saiyan

    Presios Saiyan Giant Laser Beams

    To avail:

    I think 50 - 150 since they were ammonia based? (It's rare for an Avail to live for 400 years.....is it?)

    To Novakid: (They explode which it dies.)

    I think 50 - 110 (Recorded age of Starblazer's Father.) Due to the long age record, They have shorter lifespans. 50-90 Years of age.
     

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