Offsite Discussion: Do Dralasites Smell Like Poo?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 19, 2012 - 5:29pm
a google search turned up this little discussion:

http://jrients.blogspot.com/2010/08/do-dralasites-smell-like-poo.html

I can authoritatively state that I smelled myself and I smell just fine.


EDIT: further research revealed this discussion on the same topic:
http://starfrontiers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=992
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!
Comments:

Rollo's picture
Rollo
February 19, 2012 - 6:22pm
I feel compelled to impart an observation here Jedion, if I may?

Often times an entity becomes accustomed to one's stink. After having been around it so very long, one tends to get a tad...desensitized, if you will.

Perhaps you detect no offending odor, because you have grown 'used to it'?

Gadzooks man! Wash yer nasty...

...er, I mean, cleanliness is next to godliness. O:)


I don't have to outrun that nasty beast my friend...I just have to outrun you! Wink

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 19, 2012 - 8:18pm
I'll have you know that not only does my own poo not stink but I exclusively use Paco Rabanne for Dralasites!

I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
February 20, 2012 - 6:48am
Not 100% on the science here but poo doesn't smell. Neither does sweat. Check with Bill Ney but what stinks in these things is the bacteria or more specifically the by-products produced by the bacteria and the dead bacteria. Since Dralasites do not use bacteria in the breakdown of their food they would have poo that does not smell, at least when expelled. This of course leads us to think that they expel waste the reverse way they take it in.

Now the big question is what are the latrine facilities like for any of the races and what does a multi-race latrine look like? Send diagrams please.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 20, 2012 - 7:11am
RatT is quite correct and the source of odor here. My opinion is that yazirians can use a human toilet just fine though grumble a little bit over how low it is. Dralasite can also sit a human toilet just fine and do business though I suspect they really love using a ba'deigh (spelling?). Vrusk are the tricky ones. Though if a vrusk had to he could stand half outside of a toilet stall with his abdomen hovering over a human toilet and do some business. I'm guessing that the vrusk are very much like bears, keep you office clean and do your poo outside. No doubt yazirians are able and or comfortable doing it while hanging from a tree (look out below) and in a public human restroom when confronted with those frag all too short human toilets they usually grab a hold of the top of the stall and hang over the toilet. What does this mean to mean? I don't mind using a public toilet after a dralasite but if after a yazirian or vrusk you know that I'm going to wipe that seat off before sitting down myself.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 20, 2012 - 7:19am
I think that a compromise toilet will be developed soon after the core four meet. One that is a little high for humans and a little low for yazirians. Humans will call it the yazirian throne in reference to its slightly uncomfortable height. Dralasite will just deal and in the beginning vrusk will have separate facility or public restrooms will have a special vrusk pot. Eventually some ingenious person will developed a special hinged seat attachment that will replace the lid style seat humans are use to and will conform to a vrusk abdomen allowing them to use the same fixture as the other races. The upside is that public restroom stalls will be larger and more roomy to accommodate the vrusk- no more tight closets.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 20, 2012 - 7:31am
Note when I said a special vrusk seat replaces the lid seat the round or horseshoe shaped seat is still there. Having worked in the plumbing trade I believe I can draw a diagram or picture of the core four optimize toilet and I'll email that to rattraveller for his edification.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
February 21, 2012 - 9:49am
One thing that has had me thinking for years, (yes years) is the biological diagram of the Vrusk in the AD book. Since we are on that topic, looking at it you see the Vrusk intestinal tract is in roughly the same place as a humans. Since this was a G-rated game they did not show any sexual or elimination organs. SO I have always wondered where the Vrusk did their business from?

Since we are told their lower body segment is used for respiration and we are shown where their intestines are does it make any biological sense for their colon to go all the way through their lungs? OR do they have their elimination organs up front about where the bend in their bodies is?

One other thing to remember is that toilets are a Western thing. Many cultures use the much simpler hole in the floor complete with flushing. This would of course be much easier in an interspecies facility than the toilets.

Speculation welcome but let's not get crude here people.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

thespiritcoyote's picture
thespiritcoyote
February 21, 2012 - 1:16pm
Dralasites have no bacteria? I find that a strange thought...
Dralasites don't themselves have odd Oder?... Except for the part where that are themselves NOT giant walking bacteria... and therefore likely have some similarity in odors... I might agree.

And... and... omg... and... I still made my statement about sitting on someone Elses toilet... and it is final... I will check the polls tomorrow, asking everyone that I see if they would sit on the same toilet as one of these creatures - holding up pictures of the core 5... I expect a land-slide in my favor.


I have always assumed the Vrusk mount like crickets... it is the most convenient arrangement given their form... and over time, takes care of any vistigal peculiarities that might arise from "snappy females" by allowing the male to hold her head out of reach of any vital organs...
Oh humans!! Innocent We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".
~ anymoose, somewhere on the net...

so...
if you square a square it becomes a cube...
if you square a cube does it become an octoid?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 21, 2012 - 2:04pm
From poo to sex. My how this thread has gotten around. As foer the issue of who wants to use whose toilet, sure we can have separate but equal facilities they have proven to work well historically IIRC. HOWEVER the expense of separate facilities and when needed separate by gender will be astronomical and think about the space that will eat up in a deck plan. No there will be commercial pressure to have a core four optimized toilet facility. Perhaps one that only sits one at a time so you don't have to look at another creepy alien while in there.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Inigo Montoya's picture
Inigo Montoya
February 21, 2012 - 2:30pm
Alright, new coolest thing about being a dral...you can fart in public and nobody would be the wiser.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 21, 2012 - 2:54pm
Inigo Montoya wrote:
Alright, new coolest thing about being a dral...you can fart in public and nobody would be the wiser.
I are you kidding? Everyone is going to know, a race of walking whoopie cushions that are madly into joking around?????? Whether or not there will be smell you know there will be noise.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

Sargonarhes's picture
Sargonarhes
February 21, 2012 - 3:49pm
I'd ask how would a Dralasite know if it smells, they have no nose. They appearently feel odors as any kind of clothing on them interferes with that sense of smell.
In every age, in every place, the deeds of men remain the same.

thespiritcoyote's picture
thespiritcoyote
February 21, 2012 - 5:21pm
I agree @Sargonarhes It smells just like a giant bacteria...  ...and clothes can cover that some.
(with pockets of digesting food, I hope it's covering itself!!! yuck)

I polled 7 people today with the question:
Assuming you live in a multi-species off world colony with other aliens in a unified culture,
Would you use the same sanitation facility as these Aliens?
-
Gave a show of multiple pictures from each race, and let them read the descriptions...
-
Charting the following:
Race: 
 #1 Initial reaction - "Best quote that exemplified initial reactions to seeing the race."
Yes:
No:
Maybe:
-
Considering standing in the game store play room, and polling everyone there all day.
Oh humans!! Innocent We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".
~ anymoose, somewhere on the net...

so...
if you square a square it becomes a cube...
if you square a cube does it become an octoid?

Inigo Montoya's picture
Inigo Montoya
February 28, 2012 - 7:16am
jedion357 wrote:
Inigo Montoya wrote:
Alright, new coolest thing about being a dral...you can fart in public and nobody would be the wiser.
I are you kidding? Everyone is going to know, a race of walking whoopie cushions that are madly into joking around?????? Whether or not there will be smell you know there will be noise.


I was under the impression that Drals gassed their waste out their pores (?). Humans do this in a sense. Have you ever been in a crowded line and smelled the varied aromas from different ethnic groups? This is because of the particular foods and spices that they eat (that we aren't used to). These odors are 'sweating' out of their skin. My wife doesn't like to cuddle with me after I cook a heavy Italian meal. Tongue out I assumed that the Drals would do something similar since they do not have a designated digestive tract complete with a musical orifice attached to the end. I also felt that this is why they would love fart jokes and whoopi cushions so well.

jedion357's picture
jedion357
February 28, 2012 - 8:26am
Too true Inigo but do Drals have pours? Do they sweat? Very likely they do off gas by products of digestion. I'm equally positive that they ultimately have some solid waste as not everything would be completely broken down. On top of that you don't want to be around a dralasite that just ate at a yazirian barbeque! Something in the spices used reacts badly with their physiology.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
February 29, 2012 - 11:37am

If we go with the fact that all life burns food taken in for energy than there must be waste products produced as a result. Has anyone checked to see what real bacteria do with their waste.

Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

thespiritcoyote's picture
thespiritcoyote
March 2, 2012 - 3:12am
As mentioned, bacteria in the scale of a Dralasite, would release "gas" and "sweat" that we are more familiar with as slimy "rot" and odorous "stank" of  the "decaying" organic material... biotic decomposition (biodegradation).
which is to say, such "decay" (see also: Decomposition) is actually the process of organic waste being "eaten" by a colony of microscopic Dralasite-like bacteria and fungus (neither of which are plants, but are not animals either)... and typically stinks and looks gross.

Gross - just like a Dralasite is, when...
sitting in a bubbling steamy stew mixture of chunky scented nutrient bath-water and self expelled waste-water...
or holding a pocket of half digested food while skimming around the mall...
or squatting over a dead caribou for a few hours in the wilderness because its the first source of rations you have seen in a week...
or just playing in a mineral rich pit of Yazirian feces until some elder calls you out as an "uncivilized bud"...

Hey, when ya gotta eat, you have an affinity for strange odors, and you can absorb just about anything organic with nigh-impunity, get it where ya can! don't judge!
Oh humans!! Innocent We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".
~ anymoose, somewhere on the net...

so...
if you square a square it becomes a cube...
if you square a cube does it become an octoid?

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
March 2, 2012 - 1:47pm
Now we get into the area of cultural ideals. Most of the things humans think of as stinky are simply stuff that is bad for human survival and therefore must be avoided.

SO when dealing with alien cultures you must learn to accept strange odors. This happens on Earth. Anyone ever try a durian? If your from the West probably not and won't if you could.
If your from the East you probably think cheese is the grossest thing ever since it is just rotten milk.

So the races of the Frontier must put up with alot of stink to get along.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

jedion357's picture
jedion357
March 2, 2012 - 5:19pm
Hey! I Am from the East and I live for cheese, in fact I'm eating a baked Brie wrapped puff pastry right now as I type.
I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers!

TerlObar's picture
TerlObar
March 2, 2012 - 5:45pm
I think he meant a little farther east. Smile
Ad Astra Per Ardua!
My blog - Expanding Frontier
Webmaster - The Star Frontiers Network & this site
Founding Editor - The Frontier Explorer Magazine
Managing Editor - The Star Frontiersman Magazine

iggy's picture
iggy
March 2, 2012 - 7:43pm
rattraveller wrote:
SO when dealing with alien cultures you must learn to accept strange odors. This happens on Earth. Anyone ever try a durian? If your from the West probably not and won't if you could.


First time I had durian I had to force it down.  Second time I smelt it I was in love with it.  I bought one and loved eating it.  Now I love fresh durian without hesitation and love the smell.  Turns out it was all about the smell that made me think of it as revolting the first time.

If you want to get good durian go to Davao Philippines.
-iggy

thespiritcoyote's picture
thespiritcoyote
March 3, 2012 - 5:11am
Yeppers!

Only when drizzled over my dancing-hakodate, but a nice brie and hachi-no-ko on toast sounds good! A giant roach dipped in goat-cheese! mmm Cool
 - or someday when those Lord Howe Island Walking Sticks make it off the endangered species list, bet they go good with cheddar!

Durian? no, but I will keep an eye out for them...

Dralasite, I imagine, are odor based culinary explorers... and somewhat masochistic.
There are a few shows on the Food Network that come to mind, as having prime examples of a Dralasite host.
Oh humans!! Innocent We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".
~ anymoose, somewhere on the net...

so...
if you square a square it becomes a cube...
if you square a cube does it become an octoid?

rattraveller's picture
rattraveller
March 3, 2012 - 6:21pm
If you consider your tongue is only capable of four basic flavors and the rest of your taste is in your nose than a Dralasite whose entire surface area is both mouth and nose must have an extremely sensitive palate.
Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go?

thespiritcoyote's picture
thespiritcoyote
March 3, 2012 - 7:15pm
Translated Dralasite Hiroglyphs from a Galaxy Scout Recruitment Poster:

"Taste Great Adventure... Smell Fresh Vistas...
 Explore new soils nobody [Dralasite] has trailed before!"
Oh humans!! Innocent We discover a galactic community filled with multiple species of aliens, and the first thing we think about is "how can we have sex with them?".
~ anymoose, somewhere on the net...

so...
if you square a square it becomes a cube...
if you square a cube does it become an octoid?