The Campaign Builder's Guild

Quote from: Polycarp

Quote from: NomadicYour problem is actually that you are using a forest texture mask instead of creating individual trees. I know a way in photoshop to fix that but I'm not sure about the method to use in GIMP.

Individual trees might be a bit much for such a large-scale map.  I don't think it would work well with the more realistic look I've got going on with the mountains.  In fact, the texture I'm using now is already probably too zoomed in compared to the mountains, but it's the best I've been able to come up with so far.

Light Dragon is correct. In photoshop the technique involves using a custom brush that creates tiny shapes with varied color and size. Add a drop shadow and minor bevel and increase the count and spread and you basically have an airbrush that paints forests.

Quote from: NomadicLight Dragon is correct. In photoshop the technique involves using a custom brush that creates tiny shapes with varied color and size. Add a drop shadow and minor bevel and increase the count and spread and you basically have an airbrush that paints forests.

I looked up this technique and checked it out, but even if I knew how to translate it into GIMP, I don't think it would be appropriate.  For one thing, I'm looking for more of an "aerial atlas" style rather than a hand-drawn look (I've hand drawn every other campaign map I've made, so it's just trying something new).

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, those foresting techniques apply to maps with one or more discrete sections of forest.  What I am doing is literally all forest except for a few local exceptions.  Really, there's no need for a "forest texture" at all, because I don't even need to use any kind of "grass" or "plains" texture that people normally cover the ground with by default.  Filling the entire map with a huge ton of little patterned trees is probably unecessary, and it might even get too cluttered.

I'm speedily going through GIMP tutorials and I'm pretty confident that I can denote some different types of forest with different colors and possibly textures.  Some, however - like the difference between High Forest and Low Forest (only different in their height, so they'd look the same from above) are tricker unless I just want to give them some arbitrarily different color, which I don't really want to do.  I'm not sure how I'm going to figure out that one.

Quote from: http://fc06.deviantart.com/fs40/i/2009/044/f/f/Medieval_Town_Map_by_GarrettDMorrison.pngForest is in the top right[/url].

Quote from: PolycarpSecondly, and perhaps more importantly, those foresting techniques apply to maps with one or more discrete sections of forest.  What I am doing is literally all forest except for a few local exceptions.  Really, there's no need for a "forest texture" at all, because I don't even need to use any kind of "grass" or "plains" texture that people normally cover the ground with by default.  Filling the entire map with a huge ton of little patterned trees is probably unnecessary, and it might even get too cluttered.

This technique applies to any map that you want realistic looking forest in it will work if you have forested areas, places with a few trees, or a world filled with trees. Doesn't matter.

Well, alright, you've convinced me - but the point is rather moot because I still don't seem to have that capability without photoshop.  Drat.

Edit: Holy crap, I just discovered how to do this with a tutorial I found online.  You have to make an image with multiple layers, one for each kind of shape/tree/whatever you want to paint, and then save it as a .gih (GIMP brush) in the brush folder and save it such that it paints each one randomly.  Give it enough spacing and it seems to work.  I guess now I just need some decent looking trees to paint...

Nomadic, Light Dragon, thanks for the help:

[spoiler=THANKS][/spoiler]

In Gimp its actually rather simple. Take a faded round brush, select your choice of green, max the jitter, and spray green dots like hell (i suggest using a mask for this. Copy this layer. Take one of the layers you sprayed the dots on, go to filter->distorts->Emboss, on the other darken it using contrast, and place on the bottom; this is your drop shadow. this is how i did my forests for most of my maps. there is my sig if you want to see the tree style.

Appearances are Deceiving!
While I haven't had any big articles to post in this thread, work on the wiki is continuing on a fairly regular basis.  Some recent articles of decent size you may be interested in:

Slavery*Faction list*Tea, Delicious Tea*Common languages, and some fun expressions*A few flags I've made[/list]
On another note, I hope to have a no-stats theatre game going soon, perhaps next weekend.  Though short and simple, it will be the first time I (or, as far as I know, anybody) has run any kind of game in this setting.  See if you can come (and don't make too much fun of me, I haven't run a game in a long time).

Finally, the Clockwork Jungle has won a 2009 Guildie for Most Awesomest Setting of the Year!  Thanks to everyone who gave their feedback and helped me build this setting, and congratulations to all the other winners and nominees.

Did the no-stats theater thing work out?

Also, congrats on the Guildie!

Quote from: SteerpikeDid the no-stats theater thing work out?

Also, congrats on the Guildie!

No it didn't, I was the only one that showed up ready to play and nobody else in the chat was willing to do anything.

...Well at least I'll have a chance to play the next time it pops up then. Sad though that it did not work out.

These things can be brutal to organize.  I too will try to make the next one (I realized about two hours after it was scheduled that I'd missed it), if you give it another try.

I'd be happy to try it again another time (though not this weekend).  It would be a shame not to after Vreeg gave me so much good advice, for which I am very grateful.

As you say, Steerpike, organization can be a problem.  Next time, maybe we'll get Nomadic to make a news post or something.  People have busy schedules and forget things, myself included, and there's no problem with that.

It's been a while!  My level of regular input into CJ has always waxed and waned, and unfortunately I am at something of a nadir right now.  My seasonal job has ended, so I am out of work, and busily looking for more.  It's just not the right time for me to be doing a whole lot of work on CJ, something which I very much regret.  I have added and updated a few wiki articles this week; we'll see how that goes and whether it takes too much time from my other obligations.  I'll get back into the swing of things again when my life and livelihood are a little more secure.

Until then, however, I leave you will a little short story I made many months ago.  One of the things I wondered about when making up Umbril society was child-rearing.  How, exactly, do you raise a child that can think and see long before it can speak or move?  What makes the Umbril turn out the way they do?  I wrote this one evening as a brief exploration into that topic.  

To tell the truth, it's a bit... over the top.  I'm not certain if I want the Umbril to regularly rise to this level of villainy and psychological abuse.  Still, it's true to the deep cynicism that I want to portray as essential to Umbril society, and I hung on to it for that reason.

[ic=Color and Cruelty]Sickness. Death.  Weakness.

Ven's vocabulary had been enriched by the death of its sibling.  It was fortunate to have words to describe what was happening before Ven's eyes, because Ven had nothing else to watch.  Ven was a sporeling, sessile and unable to so much as turn its face away from the rotting corpse of Ul, its sibling.  Since Ven had grown eyes, which was as far back as Ven could remember, it had stared at Ul, who stared back at Ven.  They had no gills yet, and could not speak to one another, but there was a bond forged between them, more out of desperation and loneliness than anything else.  Except for the creeping feet of the Tenders and the cold, distant voice of the Teacher, there was nothing else in Ven's world except Ul.  Ven was vaguely aware that there were other sporelings around it, but it could not see them.  It saw Ul, and the Wall behind, and together they stared at each other in the utterly grey world of the nursery-cavern.

Ul had proven infirm.  Ven had noticed long before the Tenders did; it could see the signs in Ul's silent face.  Yet even when the Tenders noticed, they did nothing.  They observed, and then they left, for they had the gift of Motion.

The Teacher alone had the gift of Speech.  It said that Ul was Sick, and that there is no hope for the Sick but themselves.  So Ven urged Ul to have hope, but could only do so in its mind.  It could feel Ul's hyphae in the soil, and it could feel them shrinking with each passing day.  It tried to help Ul, perhaps give it some of its own nutrients '" to share '" but this was beyond its power.  It tried to imagine itself making Ul feel better.  It fantasized that it could banish the Sick, and send it to some place beyond the Wall, or into the deep soil below the reach of hyphae.

This proved insufficient.  One day, the Teacher announced that Ul had Died.  But Ven already knew.

At first, Ven was angry at the Tenders and the Teacher.  How could they do nothing?  They could move!  They could speak!  They were gods who could vanish from sight and create sound as they pleased.  Ven hated them, though it did not yet know the word.  The Teacher said one day Ven would have the gifts of movement and speech, and Ven imagined terrifying the Teacher with these gifts, for it did not yet have a concept of pain or injury.  Ven's violence was fear, raw terror that stung from the head to the hyphae.  Ven imagined that it could crush the Teacher's mind with that fear; that the Teacher would speak no more, transfixed by Ven's terrible appearance and disappearance, cowed into oblivion by the words of power that Ven would utter.

As Ul began to fall apart, however, Ven realized that what it truly hated was Ul.  Ul, who even now grew with fine hairs of sweet-smelling mold.  Ul, who listed pitifully to one side, and whose stalk was already beginning to wither and split.  Ul, whose eyes were filled with insects now.  It could taste Ul, as its sibling's body entered the soil and crept up Ven's own thirsting hypae.  It disgusted Ven, but what disgusted Ven most of all was Ul's weakness.  The teacher said it was Ul's fault.  Ul could have lived, but it succumbed, leaving Ven alone in the world.  Ul had abandoned Ven, and Ven jealously wished it could die and escape this place.  It tried to uproot itself, but that was no use.  There was nothing it could do but stare at Ul's rotting corpse, day after day, and hope that it too would become Sick.

One day, the Tenders removed what was left of Ul.  They took sharp tools and cut it out of the soil.  Then they began to cut around Ven.  Ven trembled in a paroxysm of newly discovered pain as the tools cut through its mycelium.  Stop it!  I'm not Sick!  I'm not Dead!  Stop, stop, STOP!

The Tenders did not hear what was not said, and they took Ven out of the soil, turned it, and placed it back into the soil.  Ven's world was changed.  It could see other Sporelings now, and a different Wall.  It could see the Teacher, too, for the first time.  The teacher was a revolting sight, with a sawtoothed opening in its face and a bulbous body with membranous slits that expanded and contracted as it made speech.

'Today you will learn about Color and Fairness.'  Ven had recently learned what it was like to feel pain, and now wanted to inflict the direst pain upon the Teacher.  It wanted to cut it with the sharp tools until it Died.

And then came the Light.

Another horrid-looking creature came into view, holding an object that was made of something Ven had never seen before.  The Nursery had always been dark, and everything had been in black and grey, the way the Umbril saw the lightless world.  Suddenly, the light touched everything, and everything had Color, exciting and riotous and nauseating all at the same time.  The teacher held up a flat object with colors on it, each one distinct and new, and began to name them.

'This is Yellow,' it said, and continued along, naming each in turn.  Ven was overwhelmed by the sights and could hardly concentrate on these new words.  'This is Green,' it said.

Finally it came to the last color.

'This is the color that I will not name again.  This is the mark of Death '" and things much worse than Death.  It is called Orange.'

Ven had seen Death, and it had not been Orange.

'You think,' the Teacher continued, 'that you already know what Death is, and you already know what is worse than Death.  I know this because I was like you, once.'  The Teacher paused, looked at Orange, and turned back to glare at Ven and the other Sporelings.

'But you know nothing,' the Teacher growled, gradually raising its voice to fill the darkened room.  'What you know is like a speck of dirt in this Nursery.  You think I am cruel, but one day you will walk in the World, and see that I am not so cruel as it.  I have not killed any among you; Nature killed them, and I did nothing.  To treat everyone the same way '" that is what is called Fairness.  To those who thrived, I did nothing differently; to those who withered, I did nothing differently.  I have fed you all.  I have guarded you all.  I have taught you all.  You receive all this because I wish it, and I wish it to all equally.  Thus am I rightfully called Fair.'

'And you hate me,' it continued, 'for being Fair.  But that shows how little you know.  There are many things living in this world, sporelings, and they are not Fair as I am.  They will feed the ones who thrive, and take from the ones who wither.  They will teach whom they please, and leave the rest in silence.  They will kill '" yes, sporelings, they will kill.  They will kill whom they wish to and spare the rest.  And you may hate them, as you hate me, but it does not matter.  They will not care.  You may one day say to them all the words you wish, and they will hear you no more than I hear you now.'

The Teacher extinguished the Light, and the Colors faded back to grey.

'I am the only Fair Umbril.  I am the only Fair living thing in this World.  I alone judge all equally, and act upon all equally.  Nobody will be Fair to you again until you Die and return to Ivetziven.  There is nothing you can do about it.  The nature of life is to be unjust, unfair; you may try to be Fair one day, perhaps to spite me, but you will not succeed.'

The Teacher's cold rasp grew soft and calm.  'But now you know the Truth, and when you leave this place, that Truth will be a Light to you in the darkest places, revealing things for what they really are.  You will see creatures despair because their World is not Fair.  They will kill each other, they will kill themselves, all because their World is not Fair.  You will see such creatures, and you will know that you are better than they '" for you will recall that only I am fair.  You will recall that the World is not Fair...  no, sporelings, the World simply is.  And so must you be."

Ven realized now that Ul was not the fortunate one.  Ul had not seen Color.  Ul did not know the Truth.  Ul lived and died without Light.  Ven knew it was stronger, it was better, and that all had happened was Fair '" even if it would not be so forever.  Ven did not hate Ul any longer, but neither did it take pity on its sibling.  Ul was a lesson, nothing more.  Ul belonged to the old world, without Color, without Light, and without Truth.  Ivetziven could have Ul, as it wished.

Ven wished to see the World.[/ic]

That was an awesome read. It really brought new life to the feel of the umbril and what they are about.

[ic=On Action]To act without knowledge is the desire of none, but the fate of all.  Wisdom is to know this; Courage is to persevere regardless.
- Yek Auree, Wandering Storyteller[/ic]
[/b][/size]
Every culture has its legends and heroes.  In the Clockwork Jungle, many of these are uniquely revered by specific races and communities; protagonists of Tahr chants, Gheen songs, Umbril epics and Iskite histories are often used to glorify the past of a specific people and assert the power and right of their lineage.  A native to one part of the Forest may find the lore of another people, even members of his own species, to be profoundly different from his own.  There are a few common threads among these disparate peoples, however '" among them, the legendary Orchid Court.  Like our legends of King Arthur and his knights, the legends of the Orchid Court are not a single compendium by one author, but an entire tradition of storytelling based around a host of characters from antiquity.  The Orchid Court is a literary cycle whose basic characters and themes are still being explored and interpreted today.

Because of this constant re-interpretation of these ancient legends, it is difficult to ascertain how much of the Orchid Court cycle is factual.  Some characters are almost certainly real; they appear elsewhere in the limited number of texts that survive from that period.  Others are present in so many stories that, if they are not wholly real, they are at least based on a real person or a composite of various people.  Still other characters appear in only one or a handful of stories, and with these it is impossible to say whether they are real figures, based on real figures, or simply imagined by the author to suit the purposes of the narrative.  Even if one believes all the characters to be real, there is still the matter of whether the events described in these many stories actually took place.  Stories within the cycle sometimes conflict with each other, placing one character in multiple places at the same time, or claiming that a character died in battle while another story is certain that he died in his bed.  Some characters are believed to not have been contemporaries at all, but still appear together in the legendary lore.  Yet to most people, all this is irrelevant: the story, not the history, has kept the four races repeating the legends of the Orchid Court in word and print for more than half a millennium.

The Real Orchid Court

The central figures in the Orchid Court mythos are four adventurers, one of each race, who probably lived around 7-8 hundred years ago.  Traditionally, they are:

Shuszan, an Iskite female, the warrior-poet*Ayl Ikarut, a Gheen male, the master Imbuer*Ulkuth, a Tahr male, the clever hunter and riddle-teller*Idev-Thul, an Umbril, the natural philosopher

The names and professions sometimes differ, and some stories cover only the exploits of one or two of them, but this list is generally consistent throughout most of the core legends of the Orchid Court that deal with these 'predecessors.'  Emphasis, however, can vary widely.  When reading any individual story about these original four, one can generally determine the author's race based on who is elevated to the status of the 'main character.'

The story of their meeting varies just as widely '" in some, they are bitter enemies who become reconciled, and in others they were acquaintances from the beginning '" but in general, the stories tell that one of the four was imprisoned by their local ruler for speaking out against the ruler's tyranny, greed, or ineptitude.  The others come to their friend's rescue and overthrow the local ruler, only to find that by doing this they have unbalanced things in a way they could not have foreseen '" the ruler was actually beloved by the people, or was keeping an even worse tyrant at bay, or had the favor of divine powers.  A heavy price is paid, and the group resolves to journey out into the wider world and serve a greater cause in an effort to pay penance for the harm they inadvertently visited upon themselves or others.  The theme of noble intentions and unanticipated consequences is the dominant one in most of these stories, and the fundamental balance is seldom really restored.  Whether tragic or farcical, each story usually deals with the struggle of mortal beings to do righteous acts in a complex world of which they have only a limited understanding.  Often, the struggle is in vain, or the resolution of the particular adventure is left murky, and it is unclear whether any net benefit has been achieved.  The extent to which this theme is explored and the general mood of the story varies substantially between authors; Umbril storytellers tend to underline the inevitable futility of altruism, while Tahr chanters usually laud the heroes for nobly pursuing just means even in the face of hopelessness and uncertain ends.

The name used for this group of heroes is the 'Orchid Band.'  There are a thousand folk explanations of the name, but the original meaning has probably been lost.  It may be that the name was only applied later, and the contemporaries of these heroes (if, indeed, they even existed at all) never used the term.  Over time, as their exploits passed into legend, writers began to recount not only their 'main quest' but other adventures they were present for or the exploits of secondary characters that they had met along the way, sometimes with only a passing mention of the original Band itself.  The original four became just the center of a great constellation of mythical heroes and villains, popping in and out of stories but usually sharing some common thread of personality or description between different writers of different ages.  This great network of legendary figures, interconnected by time, fate, happenstance, and artistic license, became known as the Orchid Court.

Some important figures of the Court are only tenuously linked to the 'original' members of the Orchid Band.  As an example, consider Wujjal, a female Iskite known best from the story of Wujjal's Fan, in which she takes revenge upon the evil lord Ungsze for killing her mate and attempting to win her affections for himself through deception and intimidation.  Wujjal is provided with her 'fan,' a weapon disguised to look like a servant's polefan, by an Umbril smith.  In other stories, an Umbril smith of the same name (assumed to be the same one) is one of the retainers of a great telavai-Prince who is driven into madness by the machinations of its close friend.  This prince, before it underwent the process of becoming a living mummy, features in one of the adventures of the original Orchid Band.  Wujjal is thus only distantly associated with the Band, yet is still considered part of the literary cycle '" indeed, she is a comparatively major character based on the number of stories she appears or is mentioned in.

Modern Storytelling

Orchid Court adventures are common topics of storytellers and poets of all races.  Presentation tends to vary based on the forms of art and storytelling favored by the locals.  Only in recent generations have some of these stories begun to crystallize into a set format, and this is a direct result of the printing press.  The Orchid Court was always an oral tradition first and foremost, but since the spread of printing, written stories have gained in acceptance and prominence.  Though there are still many variations on each story, the spread of easily made written copies has reduced artistic diversity somewhat.

A storyteller is considered to be an essential part of any community, whether that story is told in poetry, prose, chant, or song.  A gifted storyteller with a good memory, a wide repertoire, and a bit of dramatic flair is a treasured asset virtually anywhere in the world.  Some storytellers become wanderers, traveling with caravans and flyers between communities, hoping to make a reputation for themselves or interested in finding new stories and seeing the distant lands they took place in.  Though Orchid Court stories are by no means the majority of the experienced storyteller's tales, they do form a major part '" perhaps even the foundation '" of the modern storyteller's craft.  Local tales from one community or another may not interest any beyond that community, but the essence of most Orchid Court legends will be understood by foreigners and even aliens.

Race and Relationships in the Forest[/b]

Any campaign played in the Clockwork Jungle must deal with the relationship that the so-called 'civilized races' have with one another.  It is with that in mind that I'm going to attempt to elaborate on how I perceive the concept of inter-species relationships in the Forest and what its inhabitants make of each other as colleagues and friends.

In the Depths

Though the cities of the Netai and the Circle have received a great deal of attention in my writings, it must be remembered that the vast majority of Gheen, Iskites, Tahro, and Umbril do not live in those places.  Even White Lotus, the most populous city in known history '" perhaps even the largest since the fall of the Artificers '" is but a dew drop in a pond.

Most of the Forest's civilized inhabitants live in small communities in the deep forest, and these communities are nearly all racially homogeneous.  The residents are largely isolated; their contact with outsiders, even of their own race, is minimal.  Many communities have some regular connection to the outside world through annual or seasonal caravans, but others lack any regular connection to the rest of the world, relying solely on the occasional flyer or 'pioneer trader' (the merchant-adventurers that reach small and distant communities rarely touched by larger caravans) for news and foreign goods.

An alien who visits such a community will often be met with a great deal of curiosity.  Locals seldom actually fear aliens, even if they haven't seen them before, because the four races are an integral part of each others' lore.  Children in deep Forest communities will likely hear about aliens long before they see them, often in great detail, so aliens are never treated as 'monsters.'  Reactions to visiting aliens depends a great deal on who is receiving them; all four races have traditions of hospitality to both foreigners and aliens, but it is undeniable that the Gheen tend to receive visitors more warmly than the Umbril do.  Regardless of who an alien visits, however, he will likely have to adjust to being stared at constantly, for all people exhibit curiosity (and it often overwhelms their sense of good manners).

Though most communities are quite hospitable to aliens who mean well, they often harbor a great deal of misconceptions about them.  Some of these misconceptions are taught, and others arise out of the conditions in which the people see aliens.  For instance, an Iskite village visited annually by an Umbril caravan may only know Umbril as merchants, and tend to assume that another visiting Umbril is also a merchant because 'that's what Umbril do.'  Regular alien visitors to a community may become well known to the community as individuals, but this does not always change a community's perceptions of the alien's race as a whole; an Iskite caravan-master may enjoy drinks, food, and bawdy jokes with elders of a Gheen community he visits every season, and yet still hear the same elders talk about 'Iskites' in general as humorless and arrogant 'hardheads' who would never deign to speak to a Gheen.  It is always easier to caricature the people you do not know, and isolated communities often make a distinction between the 'good' aliens they know as individuals and the 'strange' aliens they've never met.

Though the Iskites are most often characterized as being chauvinists, a subtle feeling of superiority is commonly found in deep Forest communities of every race.  The world of a Tahr, for instance, revolves around Tahro; occasional alien visitors seem to exist only to supply the goods that the blood wishes in return for what the patriarch sees fit to give them.  Such aliens are actors on the fringes of life '" intelligent, certainly, but ultimately just another of many species with a specific purpose.  What an isolated local knows about alien cultures is likely to be only the ways in which they differ from his own way of life, and a 'different' culture is usually related to children as an 'inferior' one (though often the aliens are described as simply not being able to help it '" they are what they are).  Iskites are not the only ones who can be quite patronizing when dealing with alien visitors.  A visitor may have to endure their customs and traditions frequently being called 'quaint,' 'antique,' or even 'barbarous,' words said without malice but without much understanding either.

In Large Communities

The larger and more frequently visited a settlement is, the more its relationship with and understanding of aliens changes.  Many 'towns' in the Wash are composed of both Ussik and Umbril inhabitants, and large settlements all across the Forest (especially those on significant trade routes) often have long-term or permanent residents of other races.  Any settlement that has an actual guest house (let alone a real inn) is one that's visited enough to have a much more cosmopolitan attitude than some little backwoods commune.

Here, residents see aliens on a regular basis, perhaps even every day.  Stares are less common, though an alien will still receive more attention than just another 'regular' resident would.  Oddly, however, travelers often find that their treatment is actually worse than that afforded to them in the backwoods.  The average resident still doesn't interact personally with aliens (even if they are a common sight), and may feel justified in otherwise shaky characterizations and prejudices because they 'live around aliens' and supposedly live in less ignorance than a deep Forest villager.  In addition, the more aliens a community gets, the less important any single alien is to them; an isolated community may depend on just a handful of well-known aliens who are afforded significant respect, but in a larger community with many caravans and visitors, nobody is indispensible.  Foriegners and aliens alike may be actively resented for bringing their barbaric customs into the community.  Though hospitality is still the norm, it is seldom as lavish as it is in deep Forest communities, and '" though generally rare '" conflict and violence between visitors and locals tends to be more common than in more isolated lands.

In Cities

This trend tends to reverse itself as a community approaches the size and stature of a true city.  In places like Var Aban and the City of Orpiment, aliens live shoulder to shoulder.  They may only count their kindred among their true friends, but they'll still interact with aliens at the market, in the taverns, and on the streets every day.

City-dwellers tend to have a much more realistic and nuanced view of aliens than others, though it should be noted that this is hardly proof against any kind of prejudice or hostility.  An Iskite will almost automatically trust an Iskite stranger over an alien one, and the same is true for every other race.  Most city-dwellers have plenty of alien acquaintances but no true friends among them, preferring to mingle with members of their own species who think and act the way they do.  Professional and business relationships between aliens are extremely common in some areas, particularly the Black Circle, but the status of 'colleague' is the highest most aliens achieve with one another.

Xenosociality

There are, however, those who do form deep and meaningful relations with aliens.  Often this is an outlier '" an otherwise 'normal' individual has a single alien acquaintance that, for whatever reason, they have grown to trust.  These relationships can be difficult to maintain for many reasons, not the least of which is that in many groups there is significant peer pressure within one's own racial community to keep aliens at arm's length.

Even the logistics of such a friendship can be an impediment.  No two species share the same diet, for instance; Iskites have their omnivorous starchy, spicy fare, Gheen eat fruit and insects almost exclusively, Tahro meals revolve around generous cuts of animal flesh, and Umbril cuisine is quite literally nauseating to everyone else.  Different races tend to prefer different habitats and living conditions, and may find the lifestyle of their friend totally intolerable.

Indeed, the very definition of friendship '" and its ensuing expectations '" varies between the races, sometimes with unfortunate results.

For Iskites, there is no such thing as an equal friendship; though friends treat each other with respect, there is always a superior and always an inferior even if the difference is only slight.  An Iskite may assume the role of the 'superior friend' with an alien it is fond of, only to alienate (no pun intended) the friend who perceives this as condescension.*Among Umbril, 'friend' is a very serious term that is not used to describe anything less than total and profound mutual trust.  An Umbril will frequently hesitate to use the word even to describe aliens it knows very well, and referring to lifelong colleagues as 'acquaintances' tends to upset them, especially when they see the Umbril as a friend.*The Gheen, on the other hand, use the word quite casually, but for them friendship can never supersede family '" a Gheen is likely to put the welfare of a distant cousin it hardly knows over that of aliens it has known and worked with for years, because a Gheen family is in some sense considered to be the same

person.  This can be upsetting for a Gheen's alien friends, particularly Iskites and Umbril (who have no concept of family loyalty).*The Tahr definition of friendship is more flexible, including both good acquaintances and very close confidants.  For the Tahro, however, the formal tradition of mutual gift-giving is even more important between friends, and aliens can unwittingly damage their relationship with a Tahr by failing to understand or reciprocate, or assuming that such formalities can be 'overlooked' between good friends.[/list]
All that said, however, individuals are individuals, and it is not entirely unheard of for an Iskite to accept the idea of an equal friendship or for a Gheen to side with a friend over a family member.  Still, culture and upbringing are powerful forces, and a person can struggle with these concepts for a lifetime.

There are a few who have many alien friends, sometimes more than friends of their own kind.  This is very rare in the general population and usually linked to an extremely unusual lifestyle.  Caravan drivers, traveling merchants, flyers, explorers, and adventurers are typically isolated from communities of their kindred for long periods of time.  They may spend much of the year living in or traveling between alien communities, have extensive dealings with aliens, and rely on aliens for their day-to-day survival.  They are some of the most likely to be broadly xenosocial, but may also be treated with some suspicion by members of their own race who can't understand the idea of putting such extensive trust in an alien.  The Iskites tend to be especially wary of members of their own race who have too many alien friends because of their associations with 'rogue Iskites.'

All this said, however, the idea of a 'band of aliens' traveling and adventuring together is not at all unheard of.  It is, in fact, a staple of heroic lore and literature.  In practice, most such bands lean towards professionalism '" members have a good working relationship (hopefully) but only rarely become real friends.  This is often true even for members of the same species, as work in the wilderness is always dangerous and many have an aversion to forming emotional attachments to people who may well be devoured by a speckled cat tomorrow.  Nevertheless, stories abound of alien friendships formed in adventuring, commerce, and war, and serve to enlighten the narrow-minded '" if only a little.