Slomen - Tumblr Posts

A battle sketchy

and probably the only drawing so far having all people at once?

This Sloman armor is mostly leather and bronze/iron. Speed is important for this guy and it's not great to be a metal golem if you want to use your legs as an additional weapon.

For the ifey their armor is their main weapon. The two claw-ish things in their mouth are something used for hunting (made of wood or bone) but they aren't strong enough to pierce an opponent. The intended use of this very heavy armor is to get it stuck in someone, even if the wearer doesn't come back.

This uniima's heavy ground armor is made of wood and chainmail. Additionally to that, they also hold 4 weapons. 2 beak blades, 1 double-shield, and something to take out soft eyes probably.

Most societies are still strongly pushing the 'art' of battle. The current conflicts are regional, between countries, cities etc. but they are still very common. They battle for land, resources or due to beliefs or dumb misunderstandings.

There are not as many interspecies wars as they live on separate continents with only the bridges between the continents being shared and fought for.

Luckily for residents it's not too appetizing for rulers to try conquer alien territory when they aren't sure what lives there or what's edible. But there are always exceptions.

Hey there.

Here's a Pamuli. A large herbivore tenesac (sack holder) that lives in small herds of females with one male.

These animals are best known for their young tearing out of their backs like /aliens/. Which is something the people thought was happening before domesticating them. In truth, pregnant pamuli push their small egg sack through their face opening and have them grow on their back covered with protective membrane connected to their back arms.

Males on the other hand lack most of this membrane and instead keep their juvenile claws to battle for mating privilege. Most males are heavily scarred and their cuts are not nice so the captive pamuli get their claws trimmed.

They have also been domesticated twice. This picture shows the subspecies domesticated by the northern people.

These animals are sorta a transition between modern false-mammal (Slomen, etc.) and their ancestors because of the lack of any baby-feeding organ. Instead of nurturing their young with "milk" pamuli have their babies grow in their meggs until they are ready to feed independently.

A pamuli bull (a female) with its owner having a little break on their way to transport some goods. Those shoes need tightening.

For a bit of context, this is a domesticated pamuli. Its big arm membranes are much looser than in wild pamuli, and its colors are less recognizable.

Pamuli make good transport animals but are not as good for riding. Even after being domesticated for centuries, they are stubborn and easily stressed. The leash here helps to calm them down since it makes the animal feel connected to the baggage on its back. Without it, it might panic even after it's used to the action and has seen that the baggage isn't its babies.

But with less tame pamuli it's definitely better to use a different leash while this is only inserted (it's not great for maneuvering).

The inner side of its arm membrane is also covered in mud to protect it from the sun.

If you haven't seen the original pamuli post here you have a link.

Baby slomen (chicks?sloms?slims)

They are born with sharp 'teeth' on their lower jaw to help them leave their meat egg. Once out, they use them to pierce their mother's "crop" to drink. After 14 to 18 months the teeth are gone, and at the same time, the mother's crop stops filling.

The mini sloms are also born blind (but stay that way only for a week). Their eyestalks stay protected with a very thick layer of fat for multiple years.

Being more bottom-heavy than adults, they can already learn to walk in 4 months. Their posture stays raptorial before ages 6 to 8.

Here are also some experimental sketches of adults. Def need a character exploration for uniima, but understandably, slomen are a bit easier to work with, being the human aliens.

Sloman looks at you

Just like most vertebrates from their home, they have eye stalks.

The stalk part is just hidden under the skin.

They don't see as many colors as we do and their eyes move slower than ours, which is why their sense of smell is a lot sharper and their ears can catch a bit more (at the right angle). The main reason for the 'elf ears' is heat regulation.

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.

Have the uniima or slomen made any mythical creatures? What are they like?

While there are definitely many different mythological beings in the cultures of both, I really felt like showing the sloman equivalent of a dragon.

These beasts go far in sloman history. They can be even found in their cave paintings, often as 'hunting' targets of prehistoric slomen.

Because of how many cultures have named their own beings and how different they are among these cultures, I will not name them here.

You can encounter them in hundreds of legends/folktales with some regional quarks to each. Sometimes they fly, sometimes they lift mountains and shape the world, sometimes they suck people inside their bodies, teleporting them to strange locations (...), and other times they are simple monsters fought by sloman heroes.

Other places these beings are common in are regional flags, blazons of houses or families, house decor, weaponry, some religious imagery, and naturalist books (many groups believe they are real, same with thousands of other mythical beasts), etc.

Their form is not consistent. The number of "limbs" and "fingers" is an exception. Few cultures even depict them with full vertebrate bodies with the whole 4-limb piece being the creature's head.

the blorbos

This took a while because I wasn't sure about some visuals but I love my blorbos and how they ended up.

For anyone new to my characters, on the left is Neal, the professor of acoustics, sound manipulation, and other physical stuff that people of this time period can't differentiate very well. He lives a simple normal sloman life.

On the right is "bio man" (I still need to come up with names for 80% of my characters even though I have had them for ages). He teaches everything biology-related in a small school in a completely different country. But he would rather travel and discover the nature of the world (which he does with Neal in the story).

If it's not clear, they enjoy each others company (or at least will). This picture is for me to feel warm and to show the different ways they look at the world. It's abstractly set in the future where Neal gets to have a basic fasion sense and more open feelings.

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

What does a sloman skull look like? I don't know! But you can take all versions as canon for now.

The version with the most detail assumes sloman eye stalks need more external muscles while both versions on the right assume the internal stalk muscles do the job for them. Versions on right would have fewer muscle facial expressions so some expressions would be assisted with feather movement but would still be human-like.

(4 "teeth","bone" brow and 5 neck vertebrae are decided canon)

ALSO HAPPY HALLOWEEN

A page of slomen doodles. All from different regions.

I def need to draw my species' ethnicities at some point. Really want to get sloms some silly patterns in their covering. While uniima have different proportions and skin color.

Also, let's use this to ask y'all for requests! Please feel free to request me to draw whatever stuff from my universe you want to see. I will try my best to fulfill your wishes. It can also be asks - biology, worldbuilding related, any

Welcome to the introduction (yippee)

I'm Philip/A/yello. I enjoy writing, art, science, and this is the blog focused on my personal brain worms.

My big brain worm is worldbuilding, and the world you are seeing is the World of All (placeholder name). World of All is placed on a single planet with multiple 'continents' that host independently evolved ecosystems and currently 4,5 sophonts/"aliens". This unique setup is all thanks to the Designers, mindless blobs that have managed to keep their landmasses isolated for billions of years (among other things). As a bonus, some of the blob physical manipulation is left in the sophont creatures' brains who have yet to understand physics on a deeper level.

image needs update

Here are the 5 (O.s are having a redesign session). Mole stars have not made contact with the rest.

You can also find me on Twitter · Instagram · Bluesky ·

This post will be updated with time. Beware, many posts are outdated, but I try to mark them.

doodle compilation number idk

sillies

slom animal conceptin

bigger ethnicity difference and. a mecha (def not canon)

fun fact, Neal wanted to be a sloman priest as a teenager.

Also, foru tree thought? idk

the don't-worry-about-it and uuuh, ugly baby

lastly a character. They guide the group on their journey to the "different world". But this is still a WIP. I want to refine their outfit and name (text on the pic is their "first name").

New year, new creature reveal!

This animal is an Iťalaq, a large creature adapted for the hot and dry environment of the east. Just like some earth desert animals, it has energy storage in the form of its watery bloodstream and of a large fat pocket under its 'pelvis'.

They feed primarily on plant matter. Bushes and grasses are easy targets, while hard or spiky materials will get stomped on with their middle limbs to then scoop up the insides. For food high up, they pick on it using their front limbs and throw it to the ground or insert it directly into their mouth. They do not mind a meaty snack.

As a bonus unpleasant fact, Iťalaq have the contents of their 'ends' ready to protect them from predators (both liquid and bullets), and it gets very stinky if they eat meat before the processing.

You are unlikely to ever see one in nature - at least not the domesticated species that are used all over the eastern sloman cultures (those are better reported to the nearest settlement).

Their history with slomen is not as long as it is with pamuli that evolved side by side with slomen. However, they are considered the first domesticated "arm-jaw" animals and have served people for thousands of years as their main "vehicle". Where they are used, wheels and carts are uncommon, finding most use in cities.

One iťalaq can often carry over 200kg (330 pounds), but it's better to keep the weight lower and let a pamuli take the rest of the cargo.

In this illustration, the rider is a sloman matriarch, likely stopping to stare at a strange phenomenon.

It is often that a northeastern family has at least one iťalaq, and the oldest members are the primary riders (both because of the member's importance and less energy from old age). The matriarch is the oldest and most respected, so it's only expected she's most familiar with the animal.

the picture with no text

hope the text wall doesn't have too many mistakes man

After her crew escapes further conflict with the trickster ship, Maaj retreats to the deckhouse to try comfort the creature she took from the possibly-pirates.

While Maaj has only ever seen uniima in art, she believes it is up to her to protect this perhaps sapient being and take it to land. Why else would the gods leave this child to her?

The rest of the crew, including her partner Lteny, don't think a barely moving enigma is worth the jolly boat or risking their lives.

But behind the harsh words, Lte wants to protect Maaj from the pain the creature will cause with its inevitable death. She knows how desperate Maaj is to be a mother. It's better to end things before she sees it as her own. That can never happen.

"Its face and body are solid. It will look the same awake, asleep, and dead."

It's my b-day!

Sharing random sketches from different times because I'm taking very long on the slom military things.

bio man upset. nothing visible, don't hurt me tumblr

them, still happy

disturbing things

I've been wondering - what are the tiny arms on the slomen?

The limbs on the sloman back are somewhat vestigial since they are not necessarily but most will still use them for their intended purpose in some way.

The "chicken wings" are often attractive to slomen as they help with childcare. Having strong or flexible mid limbs can make expanding family easier (you don't have to buy carry-bags).

Men will carry the meat eggs (external womb) before it hatches. After that the women often take the main role in nurturing the slims, since they are the ones with "crop pouches" full of milk-like substance.

The chicks get tired easily so even after hatching, the wings will find use for carrying.

On top of that, women grow long textured feathers on their wings, very attractive.

Some cultures don't allow showing wings or chest pouches while others don't care or they have it status based.

The colors on the picture aren't realistic and are more meant to differentiate sections of the characters. Real meat eggs are darker and have feathers of the parent's color.

Welcome to a long one.

The Ciwan empire is the fastest-growing sloman power ever since the war of continents and the first to discover a form of gunpowder (thanks to their enemies being uniima lls who have been using it long before).

But even with that advantage (among slomen), the Ciwan armies are iconic for a different reason. That being the Kuiqua-trained units that Sun-cutters come from.

These units have traditionally existed for hundreds of years but are slowly just becoming a symbol for show because of the political and battling changes in the world. However, you will still see them from time to time ripping people to pieces.

Just like the majority of sloman military groups the unit relies on intense teamwork, they need constant communication and preplanned routes to deal with the opposing strategy.

The simplified average scene might look something like this:

In one unit of 30 members, three strikers (Sun-cutters) make a plan with their scholars and commanding Fire-catchers (Seconds leaders). After getting to the war zone they wait for their window in which some members spy or communicate with deeper army spies. When they know their target and best strategy they get in. The strikers use hand gestures, clicks, or whistles to save energy while the Seconds forward the orders to the rest with "ground's" (war language), wooden whistles see more use in very large units. Many times, however, often just seeing the movement of the sun-cutters is enough for the whole group to act.

Strikers will sometimes wait behind their heavies (Beasts) if their force isn't necessary (units can be as few as 5 members or as many as 50, the two extremes work very differently). Once the situation calls for it, they bullet their targets, often stabbing talons first and tearing muscles in a swift motion. This may happen multiple times as other unit members engage in direct battle with the target/s or disarm them with specialized tools. Kuiqua units both kill and capture, having healing supplies on their heavies if they need to make sure their target doesn't bleed out (or their own soldiers).

All members of the Kuiquan unit are priests of different levels but all are priests of the dead (ones that speak for their ancestors rather than gods). It's believed lands conquered with these soldiers present will flourish with life. Many former battlegrounds have turned into gardens and crop fields (hopefully they don't keep this up when landmines are invented).

To the image. What you see is a small variety of soldiers. Beasts and fire-catchers have other names and features in their armor that they are known for based on all their roles that can often switch between fights. Only Sun-cutters truly have one name.

Fire-catchers are also sometimes strikers in training and may move up if they prove themselves. Though, more often Sun-cutters rise from the ranks of regular taloned soldiers with enough talent.

-

As mentioned in the image, Sun-cutters tend to be very prideful. Their helmets are an impractical mess that pushes their ears forward. A Ciwan Sloman's ears are very important to them and if they are damaged it's a career-ending event. Still, almost no strikers bind their ears, not wanting to be shamed for cowardness.

an ex-striker

here is the whole picture if you prefer it big

Btw, Kuiqua is the city Neal lives in. He has met or been arranged to meet these units multiple times since Neal himself is stuck classified as a fancy soldier. They are also not uncommon around temples, small talk is required.

Thank you for reading this far! Next I must answer the questions of biology. This has taken me 50 000 years.

I just stumbled upon your blog and I think your creatures are so interesting!!

Could you talk a little more about the sexual dimorphism of your bipedal species (Is "Slomen" the right name?), and what the "crop pouch" the females have is that you mentioned in a recent post? And also how the reproductive process works with the "meat egg"? Do the males have an "umbilical cord" like appendage to nurture the meat egg? How does that work?

Okay so.

Sexes/gender

Slomen have two sexes. The females are stereotypically the men of their society and males are stereotypically women. Some cultures have more accepted genders than others. Slomen also apply this inverted human-gender system to animals.

To make reading easier I will use masc and fem for the sexes.

On average, fem slomen are lighter with smaller muscles. They are very noticeable for having big display feathers on their back arms. Few cultures see them as sexual and thus hide them/cut feathers - only allowing fresh parents (they can be used to carry smaller children or the megg) to show them.

Fem slomen also have big air sacks on their chest. These are mostly for personal expression and can be used to signal things like status. With some training, the sloman can also use it in speech. "Lady talk" has many different meanings and uses among cultures.

Deeper within the sack is a food storage organ reduced to only be used during early childcare.

Also, fem often have brighter colors, though limited to browns to yellows with sometimes black or white.

Masc slomen are slightly bigger. They lack long arm feathers and developed air sacks.

On the right side (usually) is a small slit. This is where the "meat egg" leaves the body when fertilized or discarded. If fertilized, the masc sloman's bigger back arms hold it to the body (but cloth "backpacks" are also used).

The megg and other

Sloman are a little complicated when it comes to reproduction. The dedicated organs are in their short necks with transfer happening in their mouth. For most of the year, these organs are hard to feel but at the end of winter, they become active. Until late middle spring to the beginning of summer slomen are more interested in partnering (with many attached traditions). Most cultures have a matriarchal family with one fem (in one generation/partnership) and multiple mascs (who are often not expected to stay for long).

The one fem shares her drops (bigger multicellular seed) with her partners. After a few days the masc slomen have visibly swollen neck side. After that, the meat egg drops out of their neck opening. First, the umbilical stays short, staying close. When its size starts approaching 10cm, it falls to the shoulders and then its growth continues consistently. After all the organs are either used up or reorganized for the baby's shape - right size and weight, it separates from the internal megg wall. The umbilical slowly dies off and the parent stops producing soup.

After a few more days, the baby eats its way out of the remaining megg wall.

By that time the fem sloman already has the "crop pouch" full. Babies use their giant curved tooth to pierce the pouch skin. It heals fast but it takes time to get used to. The pouch content is a lot like the masc sloman's soup.

The unfertilized megg is actually capable of growth even without fertilization as it's a separate haploid organism (just like the drop). But it's rare and unwanted.

Slomen don't have the easiest time reproducing and since it happens basically once a year with a bunch of possible complications, they find large multi-generational families very important. Everyone helps a little with the wave of children. Also yes, twins can happen but it's usually lethal for at least one.

I know this hasn't been very detailed but I hope it explains a bit. I didn't want to go deep into reproduction in case it would be too icky. At some point I will show general vertebrate reproduction (on the sloman continent), with some Kula context likely.

big slom guy silly oc

only posting him here because I enjoy the rendering

The face could be better. But that's life.

He's a soldier, specifically a heavy guy of a Kuiqua squad I was posting earlier.

He's not a Ciwan native. Just like most other elite soldiers, Gwai grew up with battle training, something not as common when it comes to primary Ciwan territories. Since the War Of Worlds, Ciwa has done a lot more to grow its own population which was greatly reduced during this time. They recovered but the system mostly stayed, leaving more edge states and colonies as military "bases"? Welp. It does come with other problems. Like the fear of revolution. But that's where the power of propaganda and gaslighting comes in!!!!!!!!!!!! They also just keep powerful weaponry to themselves.