QUESTIONS MEGAN ASKED ABOUT A FEW DETAILS ABOUT SMV (SMV FAQ v0.1) 1. What was Whisper's husband's name? **** "Tolaris, she's the one. She killed my husband...." she said as tears started to form in her eyes. "Orestan was killed by a blast of lightning after his batallion was attacked by the Sailor Scouts.... She must pay...." - Whisper, SMV*DA #4 **** 2. Do Felinoids and Avians [wear] uniforms? I probably should have touched on this sooner. Denizens and shadow-kin wear uniforms. Felinoids and Avians wear arm-bands with their divisional insignia and rank attached for ease of identification. They are also known to use arm-guards like wristbands and gauntlets in certain situations. They can even wear specially-designed outfits (like flight suits) that take things like wings and tails into account when necessary, but as they have fur and feathers to moderate their body temperatures they don't need clothes unless in an environment where what they have just won't do the job. **** she said a cautious tone. She waited until she got a somber nod before continuing, - Sirene, SMV*DA #12 **** 3. Can you please fill in any blanks [in the document]? I'll give it my best shot, though this will take awhile. Ten years of details can't be sifted through in a short period of time, and that includes the stuff in my head. :( Some of the blanks are unnecessary and will be removed (ie: "Death" for living denizens), others will be left blank on purpose (or marked with something akin to "Classified" or "Unknown" if intentionally left vague in the series). (Note: The document in question was sent to me by a rather avid fan, and I have to confess with a minor degree of sheepishness that the notes she took were far more extensive than the "internal" notes I have been keeping on a running basis for the past ten years. I'll post the document when I get it all sorted out and tidied up.) 4. Is there any possible way I can get a copy of your Denizen language guide? A copy will be posted in the morning when I get home from work. 5. Would you mind posting this on you site to help other confuzzled individuals? Same answer as #4. :P I'm very leery about doing this, but I'm going to do it anyway. If anyone "out there" has a question they'd like to have answered about the world I've created with the SMV series, send it to me and I'll have them (and the answers) compiled into a cheap FAQ like this one. I'm already opening up the internal lexicon, so I might as well crack open a few more things. My "work in progress" note file stays under lock and key, however, can't be giving away too many juicy secrets about what will be forthcoming, so questions about future events will be met with a firm "Fifth Amendment" non-denial. ;) (See #10 for a case-in-point....) 6. Can you think of any main/semi-main characters I've missed and add them to the list? Added Denizen: V'Kreeth, Moirah, Agent M, T'Pri, Mal'ek, Zan'ze'met, Dyvach, Ne'tan, Ra'en, D'ael (retired Dragoon Commander), Obelisk (former Dragoon Commander), Zoicite, Malachite, Orestan, S'Rel, V'Laei, Pra'dek Added Historical: Aerce, D'Azer, V'Kaar, T'Cer, Tar-Nul, V'lent'u, Metallia Added Succubus: Deidra, Lorelei Added Shinma: Myst, Mephisto Added Lunar Cats: Luna, Artemis, Diana, Tigris, Chamomile, Sable Added Serenity's Court: Lady Kayla, Lady Aquelin Known but Not Added: Sen (V'ral's Chief Engineer), G'zel (Dragoon Engineer), T'Kern (Dragoon Engineer), T'zon (Navy Captain, Imperial Cruiser "Index"), Wiki (Colonel, R&D Commander), Talan'tu (Major, Hospitality division), Cern (Major, Military Liaison to D'Mal Seaport), S'Lul (Civilian Administrator, D'Mal Seaport Authority), Lal (Hospitality masseuse), Hatch (Avian Dragoon Engineer), As'pel (Avian Dragoon) Corrected: Grace Baker, Ambassador to Earth Mizuki Tomoe (Hotaru's mother) Skye Ten'ou (Alex's mother) Known but Classified: Helen, Renee, Zenaida, Minerva, Kei, Morgan Errors: House of Earth doesn't exist (no such avatar, and Darian isn't it). Fae isn't Leda's grandmother. **** "The Rings of Earth, Death, and Life," Susan explained. "The domain of elemental Earth has never been granted to a Sailor Scout, so its powers are of no use to any of us. The power of Death has always been the domain of the House of Saturn, which is unfortunately lost to us now." - Susan, SMV*DA #9 **** **** Susan blinked and looked up, finding the ghostly memory of a past Sailor Jupiter fading away to be replaced the confused visage of her nine-generations-removed descendant. "Very well, Sailor Jupiter," she said quietly. - Susan to Electra, SMV*DA #10 **** 7. What is the approx age conversion from Human to Denizen? E.g. Age 11(human) converted to ? (Denizen) 8. What age (approx.) is adolescence in the Negaverse? 70? I have to confess that this wasn't a stellar example of forethought on my part, to be honest. I had originally conceived it to be a 20:1 ratio in terms of age (so the theoretical human lifespan of 100 would work out to 2000 in denizen terms), but somewhere along the line the "curve" got heinously bent out of shape so there isn't a direct correlation anymore. Human Age : Denizen Age (Roughly) Infant (0-1) : 0-20 Toddler (1-5) : 20-40 Child (5-12) : 40-80 Teen (12-19) : 80-200 Young Adult (20-30) : 200-500 Adult (30-50) : 500-1200 Old (50-70) : 1200-1600 Elderly (70+) : 1600+ Milestones: 70 - Median age when both the Chaos Factor and puberty tends to kick in. Consequently, this is also the point where the "child mortality rate" peaks on a graph due to accidental death from uncontrollable Chaos Factor evolutions. 180 - Absolute minimum age for enrollment in the military (requires parental consent). 200 - Arbitrary value in denizen society when adulthood is legally reached. This is also the traditional "age of decision" when a denizen decides whether or not to pursue a career in the military. Those that do are offered a chance to rename themselves as a symobolic gesture of leaving both their childhood and "indiscretions of youth" behind. 500 - Generally-accepted age when one is "no longer young" (like a human hitting 30). Unlike humans, this often results in a significant and memorable celebratory event given the tendency for (frequent) violence in the Negaverse to have a very adverse impact on the "adjusted" life- expectancy of a denizen (outside of natural causes). 1000 - "Mid-life" for a denizen, although physically they are in better condition than a human would be at the halfway point of 50. For denizen women, this is also around the same time menopause begins to kick in (and tends to last for up to a century). 1200 - Physical age starts to become apparent (hair starts to go gray, facial wrinkles begin to develop, the body is no longer as fast or as flexible as it used to be), typical "retirement" point for some military (if joined at 200 and served a full millennium). 1600 - Median age when the body can no longer support power-intensive Chaos Factor abilites and they began to fade. Pure-psi powers like telepathy are rarely affected by this, although such powers like Teleportation and Telekinesis lose strength. Also the typical "retirement" point for long-serving military officers who wish to live out the rest of their natural lives in relative peace. 2000 - Uppermost limit of the denizen life-span for those without a form of regeneration, akin to a human living to be 100 (ie: it happens, not very often, and not for long). 9. When Darian, Rei and Alex left the Negaverse after they rescued Serena they used the silkworm crystal to get back to earth. When the priest got to the imperial castle they couldn't use the wormhole because of the radiation. Is there a way to get across dimensions without punching through Runes ForceWard barrier? The Imperial Castle (like many other military bases and secluded areas such as the monastery at Ka'an-Nul) is surrounded by specially-designed barriers that won't permit entry via Teleportation or dimensional means (like Silkworm- class wormholes). While the barriers are two-way blocks for Teleportation, they are only one-way blocks for the wormholes and other dimensional-tunnelling abilites (ie: you can leave, but you can't get back in once the wormhole closes). Given the importance of the Imperial Castle, it would be inconvenient to block out *all* incoming teleports and wormholes (especially if the other party is coming from another region of the planet). There are specially- designed "waypoints" within the Imperial Castle (and likewise other protected locations) where one may Teleport or jump-gate into only if the waypoint is "open". Think of it as a shuttered window in a wall. You can't get past the wall itself, and you can only go in through the window if someone on the inside decided to open it for you. (Technical note: The molecular teleportation device onboard the V'ral is of a unique design that was "borrowed" from the Renn during the Hinterland Campaign. Because of its properties and the way it manipulates physical matter, neither the Chaos Factor-oriented wards nor the dimensionally-oriented barriers have any impact on its ability to disassociate an object in one location and reassociate it in another. However, physical shields (such as Rune's ForceWard barrier and conventional anti-radiation barriers) will block the beam from functioning properly if the target is inside the shielded area.) General Rune's ForceWard barrier is, like any other defensive shield, a physical barrier. The problem you cited wasn't that they couldn't get through it (as it had already collapsed even before the monk's cruiser had landed), but that the surrounding radiation made it distinctly unhealthy and unwise to drop the radiation shields (likewise a physical barrier) to allow Vol to simply walk up the path to the Castle gates. Even if the shields were down, the only place they could have "gated" into would be the waypoints inside the Castle's reception area. And even then, the real problem they had was that all of their Silkworm crystals were.... elsewhere. ;) **** "Unless you can poke a man-sized hole through the castle shields," Al'vexi replied dryly before turning to the Communications officer. "Notify Security and see if they can either find a normal Silkworm crystal or realign one of the waypoints. It should have enough power to open a stable portal just outside the shield perimeter without overstressing the matrix." she privately telepathed to the white-haired admiral an instant later. - Al'vexi, SMV*DA #11 **** 10. Was Freya originally a bath attendant on the moon? As a reference in SMV 9: "Welcome, Sailor Uranus," the girl with pale blue hair replied with a bow of her head. "Welcome, Sailor Neptune. The pool is still being flushed, but it should be ready shortly. Please, come with us," she said as she and another girl took hold of Alex's arms and led her across the room, with the other two girls guiding Michelle right behind them. Your Honor, at this time I would like to assert my Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, as at this time I can neither confirm nor deny the allegations made by the prosecution.