 June 6, 2013 - 3:53pm | By the book dralasites see in black and white thought their sense of smell compensates by the book dralasites on Inner Reach dye their skin with washable dyes to reflect their mood for the day. really? a color blind being uses color to reflect mood? forgive me if this topic has been discussed before but it just hit me. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 6, 2013 - 7:00pm | Yeah, the irony was never lost on me ether. I always assumed that they just splashed dyes on themselves to make themselves look more interesting to non-Dralasites. It sometimes feel that they just throw the setting details together without much consideration to what each of the races are capable of doing or not. |
 June 7, 2013 - 12:06am | I feel the same. This is an ignorant mistake of the writers who did not think about dralasites not seeing color. I have thought about this before and figure the dyes that the dralasites use are not chosen for their color but rather the shade of grey that they render. The fact that the dyes are a different color to everyone else is lost on them. A group of drals may be getting 15% grey dye jobs and each turn out a different color to humans, et. al. because they each went to a different dye house. Now drals that want to clue their non-dral friends in may choose the psychological human or yazirian color of the matching light/dark shade the evokes the same mood in the human or yazirian. -iggy |
June 7, 2013 - 2:36am | It would make sense if said body-paints were just perfumes mixed together, and color-coded for non-Dralasites. |
June 7, 2013 - 3:10am | well as an aspiring artist I pay attention to what pigments actually are. Because many pigments are actually toxic- cadmiums and so on. A tree hugging hippie-ish artist from Cambridge recently gave me a ration of crap over using pastels because they're toxic and the dust is easily sent air bourne. The truth being that most companies now have switched to non-toxic pigments for pastels and some paint companies have developed non toxic replacements for pigments I think the word is "hue" which will indicates the toxic element has been replaces with a synthetic. Point is that perhaps dralasites choose paint and dye for the taste. Their sense of smell so accute and perhaps their sense of taste is as well. that the presence of certain pigments in the dyes actually has flavor, influences mood, etc. though we would now need to add a racial ability of resistence to hvy metal toxicity I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
June 7, 2013 - 6:34am | I would not add heavy metal resistance. These are dyes not paint. The dralasite is thus implied to be soaking in it and it is likely plant based. I like the smell and taste angle. I also like that they would choose colors based on how other races respond to that color. So not only are they influencing themselves but also others. -iggy |
 June 7, 2013 - 1:47pm | Of course this brings up the issue of how Dralasites actually even see. I had the Starmist module sitting on my desk the other day and my 6 year old asked me what the Dralasite on the cover was. I explained that it was an alien and her next comment was "It doesn't have a head". I agreed with her (although the Dral in the picture has a long neck/tube with the eye spots on the end) and then she said, "and it doesn't have any eyes". Again I agreed and then pointed out the eyespots to her and explained how they worked but that got me thinking. How do Dralasites see? In humans and any other creature with eyes, we have lenses that focus the light from the area around us to different points on our retinas. All light from a given point in space that hits the lens is focused (assuming you have good vision or corrective lenses  ) at a single point on the sensor (the retina) in your eye.Drals don't have the optics package of the Mk I eyeball so the light from any given point in space hits all over their eye spots and every point on the eye spot is getting hit by light from every direction. There is nothing to differentiate where the light is coming from to form an image. Given the anatomy described, I'm at a bit of a loss to understand how they see at all. I have an idea of something that might work derived from X-ray astronomy but I need to look into it a bit more before I could write intelligibly about it. 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 |
 June 7, 2013 - 4:24pm | NO Perfumes Dralasites smell is a major part of their langauge. To paint aromatic dyes onto their skin would be the human equivalent of wearing earbuds and playing the music so loud others would know what your mood was. Of course communicating would be difficult. Sounds like a great job but where did you say we had to go? |
June 7, 2013 - 6:51pm | Well, some people have well and truly poured cold water on the parade ;) (seriously good comments though) and all I can say in answer is, "But we like dralasites!" I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
 June 7, 2013 - 9:31pm | Most likely they have a different brain structure as well. Their nervous sytem would be set up differently than ours. It may not really make sense, but we could come up with a new way for them to process the data that their eye spots collect and transfer to the brain. It is truly ALIEN. And yes Jedion, "we like dralasites". |
June 7, 2013 - 11:32pm | ....and all I can say in answer is, "But we like dralasites!" Well, not so much the Yazarians, but the feelings are mutual.  |
 June 22, 2013 - 4:15am | who said the dye is colored? whatever they put on their bodies could look like random shades of grey and strange patterns and wierd images like a rorschach test. Another Dral would understand the deeper meaning behind the shading and the patterns. while a non-Dral would see swirls and who knows what else it moves by. Time flies when your having rum. Im a government employee, I dont goof-off. I constructively abuse my time. |
 July 4, 2013 - 10:52pm | I never really try to get that deep into the characters in the story I just go with it. BUt now that you mention it.... Light Sensitive cells. Just like in "Origin of the Species" Wich easily explains away the black and white only thing. as for the pigment and dye thing.... I like Rum Rogue's answer. Caveat: I do not believe in Darwinism nor do I endorse the book I mentioned above. Evolution is Far more complex than Darwin's little mind ever thought. The bombing starts in five minutes. |
 December 28, 2013 - 11:56am | I just figured the dyes they use, they can see but would appear to them from white, shades of grey to black... what other races see would be different... "A mauve dralasite walks into the room. Tip you see "she" is expressing joy with a tinge of hope." However they could have patterns: different types of patterning, shading and application would be big fashion industry and they would have famous stylists, designers, and new products (think mixed hairstylist and clothing fashionist) not to mention shows and fashion ideas in magazines. There could be traditional patterns with set meanings, schools of design, there would be debates on the newest ideas or how some famous dral expressed themselves in dyes, there could be a form of joke, pun or poetry in dyes that only drals understand which might lead to dral's wondering about or laughing at the "sensible clothing choices" of other races (The Dral Tip tells a dral joke to a K'tlil the V'rusk and the Human Jen: "A Human in a blue and brown checkered shirt with black pants walks into a bar! Ha ha ha!" V'rusk and Human together "I don't get it." Tip "Oh, you guys get it." Tip wanders away. K'tlil to Jen "I really don't get it." "Don't ask me? I don't get it either." together "Huh"... "Hey have you ever tried to shop with him?") The dyes are a reflection of that dral's truth. In addition I could see "dyes" with all sort of qualities... long wear, short wear, waterproof, glossy, natural, glow in the dark, glittery, metallic, bright, natural, muted, pastels, neon, shades only visible to dralasites (so other races just see bright red but drals see a whole range of greys), there could be dyes that change for instance like mood-rings to some physiological reaction, or one colour dry and one colour wet, or one colour under a specific type of light and another in a different light (black-light for example) and cold or heat activated. There also might be special days in which drals wear a colour to reflect a greater truth outside of their own (celebration or remembrance day for example) or even an Opposite Day. Going shopping with Drals for clothes might be an experience... The Human Jen lifts up a yellow long sleeved turtleneck shirt and Tip says "Is that the truth you want to express?" Jen "What?" Tip "I was unaware you are feeling aggressive and sexual." Jen "What!" and throws the shirt at Tip "How about this one?" Tip offers up a scanty red bra with lace "It says you are feeling celibate." Jen "Get out of here Tip before I kill you!" Could be fun to ponder how drals might see other species colour choices, not to mention business would need to market colour and colour combinations on products to drals based on dral colour truth: there would no doubt be stories in business such as human designed hoover car called the Jovian which came in a shade of red, it was a market hit to all races but drals until marketing discovers that the shade of red means/looks to drals that you are depressed but once the hoover cars are painted mat split pea green sales to drals soar.  Could be funny this in game play. "I never get in that shade of yellow cab" says Tip stopping K'tlil from entering the cab "Why?" says K'tlil looking at the line of yellow cabs ready for hire "You know what happens" replies Tip "No, I don't." "Well it is clearly advertised." "What is advertised?" "You know, it is a cab ride with extra services. Oh! There is a white one! Let's flag it down." Grabbing K'tlil and dragging him along at a run.K'tlil, Tip and Jen at a dral art exhibit: Jen "It is just one big grey painting?" Tip "What this is a masterpiece! A cultural treasure!" K'tlil "I don't see anything but one shade of grey?" Tip "The emotions expressed, what a master you guys just have no appreciation for art!" "Jen" says K'tlil "Is it me or do all the paintings look the same?" Jen "No it is not you..."  "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
December 28, 2013 - 1:07pm | The comment "going shopping with drals would be interesting..." caused me to imagine being in a mall and being a typical male human what pops into my head is the promenade of the mall -that would be because as a typical male I only hunt for clothes I dont shop. i go into a store, find a rack, find something in my size, buy it and walk out. By default I spend more time in the promenade. So while I am in the promenade I notice things like kiosk. Dral is out shopping and has a mood change (from shopping therapy no doubt) and stops by a kiosk that has dyes, brushes, perfumes, and so on. Pays a few credits and paints a few modifications its dyes job or has a few modifications to its dye job. Sort of like going to a mall kiosk to get your ears pierced. Apparently, drals have bad dye jobs like humans. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
December 28, 2013 - 4:03pm | Yes there would be touch up kiosks... great idea. "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
January 2, 2014 - 10:59am | Thanks, I was thinking about just because it is the greyscale does not mean they don't see things we can't and might see other ranges of coulor and colour turth would be a real concept for them. :) "Never fire a laser at a mirror." |
