Kula!

Kula!

A popular domesticated animal of slomen.

Kula are adapted for grassy areas with lots of small prey. In the wild, they either jump after flying or jumping prey or wait at burrows before smashing their prey with their hooves. If the smash isn't enough they hold it to their beak and finish it. Some species are more specialized to wait while others to jump. The domesticated Kula is speculated to be one of the more energetic hunters, mostly interested in 'insects'.

In ancient times wild Kula were attracted to sloman settlements as they would also attract prey with the slomans' food and light. The slomen would soon learn that Kula were not pests since the wild animals were yet to be spoiled by premium meat cuts and preferred fresh moving meat that the slomen didn't want around.

In current times many cultures keep these animals as pest control on farms and in larger houses. They can be commonly seen in underground rooms that serve as food storage but for a healthy mental state, they need time on the sun.

While in the wild they are usually solitary or in small groups, Kula have a complex body language that they use to express their mood and/or needs. This can be very cute and funny, helping them become as loved as they are. Many owners will grow to care deeply for their Kula but some cultures recognize them directly as pets. In the high-ranking societies of these cultures, pet Kula get even rounder. Often a certain trait is popular in a culture, resulting in localised breeds with different shapes and colors.

Some little goober possibilities - not entirely canon

In a few places, Kula are also part of a religion and have their own shrines.

Lovely character of @beeb-oob, Peanut. Very polite.

Very happy I got the chance to draw them like this.

Anyway let's add a regular post on the mole stars

Here is the one from the new ref.

There are some updates from the last time you saw them. Their skin is full red and their "tentacles" are gone. Their teeth are inside their skin and not always visible.

They manipulate surroundings with very flexible arm endings that create slight suction between the frill layers. The frills are surprisingly energetic and have the most touchy nerves and many small muscles. The teeth can go very far back into the arm, leaving the mouth flexible (the teeth themselves are flexible-ish).

Star eyesight sucks. On each arm is 4 (sometimes 5) extendable thorns with tiny eyes on top that give the arm a basic sense of space. If they want to focus on something they look with their mouth which has its inside lined with photoreceptive cells. To get a decent image they shape the arm inside into a sphere and change the end diameter.

But this works a lot better underwater, where they only spend their early and partial adult lives. Speaking of early life. Stars are born looking more like jellyfish than a star.

When hatched, they are only 1/4 of their adult version, a single arm swimming around and slowly growing. After this stage, the little jellies start connecting. Most often you get 4 arms but some moles have 3 or 5 (other numbers have a hard time surviving). Once they are joined, their bodily functions are connected, and even their nervous system becomes one. While being sophonts, their brain/s work a lot differently, with their arms being somewhat capable of independent thought.

And a tiny possible living space. But that's just thoughts.

The silhouette creature competition is over. The winners are here!

The winner is @beeb-oob and their neat slug thing! I just really loved the shapes and colors of this creature. Additionally to the creature, I will draw a character of choosing for beeb-oob.

The award for favorite silhouette use goes to Cool Bug Design by @thegreathailstorm. The jaws becoming the butt of the creature is very badass.

The award for the goofiest goober goes to The Sniffler by @selkra-souza. This goober is just extremely silly.

And the rest of the participants! (If I forgot anyone please inform me). The choices were difficult with so many awesome designs and awesome worldbuilding. If I had more time I would draw more of them.

To note, only the winner gets an extra art this time. I am one slow drawer.

I thank you all so much for participating. It was so much fun seeing what you came up with. I hope something similar can happen soon again, maybe with a different focus.

I've got a question about the Slomen. Why do they look so human when they come from a radically different biosphere? Unless I'm missing some context and they're actually bioengineered from human stock to survive in their homeworld's biosphere.

Slomen are designed to be your friendly neighborhood humans! With the same mammalian vibes and traits while doing some things a bit differently. Just silly little guys. You point at one and say "Oh my god is that Bob from accounting?"

There's a reason for the level of human resemblance but I wanted them to fill a human role on a planet with a bunch of aliens. The most relatable, most readable of the blorbs - since my main goal with the world is to have a story in it, one that is not too hard to follow.

It might seem like a creativity cut but this is how I like them. Trying less human things made them more rubber-head/grey bipedal and that's not what I want.

I want a person to be able to photoshop one into a human portrait and take a while before noticing one of the people has weird eyes and is covered in fuzz (among other things).

Can you spot the slom

Hand in pain I scream.

It's not carpal I was already checked for that. It's just the forever-pain that appears randomly for few weeks and is silent for rest.