Glossary

Artificial wombs: Talin women cannot get pregnant if they don’t “scent bond” (see below) with their partner. When scent-bonding started going out of style (and eventually became illegal), the Talin started using artificial wombs to have children. Live births were outlawed and instead, artificial wombs were used. It was expected that each Talin couple would have exactly two children, one male and one female, unless the government requested more to make up for a population imbalance.

• Cresh (creshes): It became fashionable not only to have a child produced in an artificial womb, but to have them raised by specially trained professionals.  Children spend their lives in the cresh and only leave when it’s time for them to begin training for a future career under the guidance of their family.

 

Ending (clinically referred to as Collapsed Scent Disease): If scent-bonded partners are separated for too long, they can suffer and die. The length of time partners can go without each other depends on the individuals, but most can only last ten or so days apart because they start suffering. It’s a painful death and one of the reasons that a distant Talin monarch started encouraging his people not to scent bond.

 

Fading (clinically referred to as Catatonic Withdrawal Disease): This is a disease that can strike a Talin at any time in their life, but is most common when they’re in their prime breeding years. Without a scent-bonded partner to help stabilize them, they can fall into a deep depression. They stop eating, moving, and eventually die. It’s considered a shameful disease among the Talin and those that suffer from it are often hidden away by their family.

 

Identification Cubes: Often called simply an Ident, these devices act as a combination of communication device, locator, and identity verifier, recorder, and method of payment, among other things. Most species have moved to using small Information squares instead of the awkward cubes, but Talins refuse to give them up.

 

Information square: These can range from the size of a human hand to the size of a human torso. They look like a square of glass, but are embedded with electronics. They can store data, record, access to unibases, store wealth, and act as a form of identification. Most species use these instead of the older, and more expensive Identification Cubes

 

Innercranial translator (also known as an INT): This is a small bit of tech that almost every hearing species has implanted in their head. It only works with verbal or gesture-based languages; it can’t translate written words.

• Human children usually get one between three or four years old. 

• Talin children usually get one when they’re about one solar old.

 

Mattil medal:  Awarded to soldiers for acts of bravery. At best, most soldiers only win one in a lifetime of service.

 

Old Earth: A few years before the beginning of Creating Captivity Earth became uninhabitable. The air and water were too polluted for anything but bacteria to survive. Some humans moved to live and work with other species before this happened.

• Final Cataclysm: The final days of earth were people surviving by staying in sealed buildings and consumed stored food and water. This was when many humans took any job they could get, even if it paid almost nothing and was dangerous.

• The very wealthy and their staff moved to self-sufficient colonies on Mars or the moon. Within a year they all collapsed because they weren’t truly self-sufficient and couldn’t survive without the Earth to send supplies.

• For decades before the Final Cataclysm scientists were working on various bacteria that would break down or digest the various toxins in the air and water. They were released but it’s estimated that there will be worldwide results in 10,000-15,000 years.

 

Scent bonding: Talins have oil secreting glands in their cheeks. Each Talin produces oil with a unique scent and they can become addicted to their partner's smell. The lack of oil producing scent glands in humans is why it’s believed that Talins can’t become scent-bonded with humans.

 

Species: This is not an exhaustive list of species but some of the most common you’ll encounter.

• Delorta (Dee-lor-ta): Description-this species looks a bit like the mythical centaur. They have four arms on their human-like upper body with a draft horse-like lower body. Instead of horse hooves they have giant cloven hooves, more like goats.

  • They have three genders: lifebearers, nurturers, and providers. Traditionally lifebearers have and nurse children, nurturers are expected to care for and raise them, and providers are meant to work hard to shelter, feed, and for the family. In reality none of the rolls are clearcut and everyone often does some of everything. Most family units are made up of one lifebearers and several nurturers and providers.

  • Their homeworld is an iceplanet. Lifebearers can’t get pregnant anywhere but on their planet of origin. 

  • While they can survive hotter environments, they like their environment cold so their space stations are usually kept at very low temperatures. 

• Doringo (Door-in-go): Description-as an avian species the Doringo have a short, fat beak and their body is covered in feathers, although they don’t fly. During their distant evolution their species traded size for flight. They are bipedal with claw-like hands and feet. Their arms and legs seem thin for their body, probably because their feathers make the rest of them look round and fluffy.

  • This species tends to colonize plants rapidly, sometimes with sloppy terraforming that can cause the planet to become inhabitable in the long run.

• Hamlershin (Ham-ler-shin): Description-this species looks a bit like a large octopus but with eyes all over the top of their head. They have thirteen tentacles and use them as both arms and legs interchangeable. Each one has a barbed hook at the end that makes an effective weapon. 

• Leemron (Leem-ron): Description-cat like species covered in fur with short, fat rounded ears. They’re extremely family oriented and often own and operate business as a family for generations.

• Nimon (Nee-mon): Description-insect like species that look a bit like a praying mantis. They have a lot of body language they use to convey emotion such as scissoring their antenna back and forth to denote agreement or a head not to show hunger.

• Ossiso (O-see-so): Description-reptilian appearing, but with fur on their head and running down their back. They have the basic two arms, two legs, bipedal shape.

  • Ossiso Civilization of Souls: how they refer to their government/civilization

  • They have an extremely rigid social structure and the class your born into dictates what kind of jobs you can have and even what rights you have.

• Vicpor (Vic-poor): Description-Giant beetles with four legs and four arms all ending with three finger-appendages. They have an outer carapace and use a hydraulic system inside their bodies instead of muscles. 

  • They’re infamous for their avarice, even with their own family.

• Ugarian (Ooo-gar-ee-an): Description-big furry species that make some humans of a classic werewolf. Their colors can range from shades of blue and gray to solid colors with the occasional brown individual. They have long, pointed, expressive ears and a shortish snout. 

  • They are one of the three founding species of the Ilgorian Federation (The two other spices are Ilgorian and Porian)

 

Talin Government Basics

• Monarch: The monarch and Apogee Assembly work together to lead the Talin people. Although the monarch doesn’t serve on the Apogee Assembly, they have the power to challenge any laws the assembly wants to pass. They can also unilaterally disbar  an assembly member, but this is considered an extreme action and rarely done.

• Apogee Assembly: This is the major law making and governing body. Under this assembly other government programs are overseen. The members of the Apogee Assembly are referred to as Servant Citizens and are elected by their Clan Assembly to a position in the Apogee Assembly.

  • It is expected that a monarch’s grown children, called Prime Son/Prime Daughter, will serve on the Apogee Assembly. There are always two positions set aside for them,  although it’s rare that both will serve at the same time.

• Clan Assemblies: Talarian, the Talin homeworld, is divided up into providences. Each providence has a Clan assembly made up of a representative from each clan in the providence. Those that serve on Clan Assemblies are called Assembly Citizens. These Clan Assemblies will pick one of their members to serve on the Apogee Assembly.

• Colony Assemblies: Most colonies don’t have large clans or are made up  of a few families starting a new clan,  therefore these Assemblies are made up of whoever the citizens of that colony feel will do the best job of governing. Most homeworld Talins look down on colonies as being made up of upstarts or new clans.

 

Talarian: The Talin homeworld.

• They have extremely strict laws about being on Talarian. If you don’t have family or property then you can’t even visit unless someone with property sponsors you. They don’t have any kinds of inns, hotels, or rooms to rent. If you land without a sponsor you stay on the ship until it’s time to leave again.

• Moravi: capital city of Talarian and home to the Apogee Assembly

 

Time Keeping

• Universal units: This is a universal time keeping framework used by most species. It’s based on a ten unit day with each unit being the equivalent to about two hours of Old Earth time keeping. Most species divide up a day into a five unit working cycle and a five unit rest cycle. 

• Marks and Strikes: Talins don’t use Common Units, they have marks and strikes. 1st mark is at sunrise and last mark is at sunset, 13th mark. Strikes are used at night and go from 1 to 13. 

  • Each strike and mark on Talarian is the equivalent of 45 Old Earth Minutes. Each mark is made up of 100 submarks. Each submark is made up of 100 micromarks

  • If you’re referring to a passing of time they’re all marks, whether they happened during the day or night. For example: Searin set his Ident to wake him at 11 strike. That was only three marks from now.

  • Because colonies would be unlikely to have the same day and night pattern as the homeworld, they keep the 26 strikes and marks, but change how many submarks are in each unit so that it all still works for their individual colony time keeping.

  • Talin ships will keep the same time as the homeworld.

 

Unibase: This stands for a universal database that most species keep and allow free access to for all their citizens. Often ships will have a copy of their species UniBase, but might restrict access to only the members of the crew that are the same species as the captain or owner.

 

Universal: One of the most common languages used within the known universe. Even though almost everyone has INTs, knowing how to speak and read Universal is highly beneficial, especially reading because INTs can’t translate written words.

• Common: This was a second language developed to be interstellar but it never became as popular as Universal.