By and large, there are four types of starships to consider in use within ISC space:

*The old pre-ISC planetary fleets, built at the respective home worlds and used during the era from the Resource Wars through the founding of the Inter-Stellar Concordium;

*The "two-prong" first-generation unified hulls; which served as the first Navy and Police ships, before being transferred to local defence forces in the Y160s;

*The "three-prong" modern fleet; from the TL12 ships that emerged post-Y160 through the X1- and X2- era editions;

*And the generic civilian units that were built post-unification to support the Concordium's expanding economy.

(And technically, whichever mix of ISC species that in the PX 123 system at the point of transferrance would need to have their own requirements considered, once that star system is integrated into the Federal Republic of Aurora in Y178.)


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While the five founding members of the ISC each have their own particular set of environmental and logistical requirements, it can be assumed that the five old planetary fleets would have each been built to suit the needs of their respective home species.

Also, by the time the Y-era hulls were being turned into L-grade units for local defence purposes, it may have been the case that those ships assigned to each of the five home planets might (or might not) have been converted to suit the requirements of the local species; though this might not have been the case for ships assigned to colonies founded post-unification (and which would have a mix of the five species to support).

But in any case, the explicit policy of the unified Concordium authority to encourage the equal mixing of each of the five member species with the other when in Naval or Police service would be intended to help turn former rivals into common citizens; but would also raise a few issues of practicality when it came to actually building the ships needed to bring the five planets together.


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As shown here, the five main ISC species are the Korlivilar, the Pronhoulites, the Q'naabians, the Rovillians and the Veltressai.

Of those, the Korlivilar, Pronhoulites and Veltressai are each native to class-M planetary environments; though in the case of the Veltressai, matters are complicated by the presence of Quads (with one of every 20 births resulting in an identical set of psionically-linked quadruplets).

Even with the issue of the Quads to consider, the sheer numbers of these three species relative to the other two would likely compel the ISC to use a class-M environment as a "default" aboard their ships. (The Veltressai home world has a lower gravity level than those on Korlivala or Pronhoula, so using the former's rating as a base might put a little spring in the other two's steps when aboard ship.)

The Rovillians, hailing from a class-N home world, are capable of operating (slowly) on land, but are far more comfortable (and graceful) in an aquatic environment; one could imagine their old ships being filled with plenty of water to accommodate this (not entirely unlike the environmental needs of the Koligahr over in the Omega Octant). However, on ships shared with the "dry" ISC species, turning whole sections of the ship into giant swimming pools on a permanent basis might have its problems. (Keeping the gravity to Veltressai-native levels would help the Rovillians get around a little more sprightly on "dry land", perhaps.)

The Q'naabians pose a different problem. They are native to a class-R world, with a nitrogen/ammonia atmosphere; though they seem to be able to operate with a breathing apparatus in a class-M environment, it's not quite clear if they can walk around exposed to the warmer air, or have some sort of skin coating, or need to go so far as to wear environment suits. But in any case, they are said to have "cold cabins" they can retire to when aboard a mixed ship.


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In any case, establishing a set of officer and crew quarters, as well as rec rooms and other common areas, to handle each species might pose a challenge.

In theory, the engineers could simply set 1/5 of the cabin space aside to handle each member's needs; but in practice, that might run afoul of the personnel needs of the ship once it's in service. (There's no guarantee that any given mix of officers and crewmen would be present at any given rank; and it would be impractical to build duplicates of larger rooms, such as a Captain's quarters, just in case the commanding officer is of such-and-such a species.)


So, as I posted in another thread, my personal view would be that the Concordium would design its cabins (and rec rooms etc) to be modular in nature; with each ship carrying stockpiles of pre-fabricated components that can be installed, removed, and re-used as and when the needs of a particular member species required it.


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For the (non-Quad) Veltressai, as well as the Korlivilar and Pronhoulites, the degree of changes would be fairly minimal; of the kind which each cabin's internal adjustments could allow for. (If members of more than one species are obliged to use the same cabin, they might have to compromise about how warm they turn the temperature dial.)

As for Veltressai Quads; in principle, they can operate effectively anywhere within 15 miles of each other, so they can mind-link properly. In practice, however, I might imagine the Concordium authorities preferring to keep each Quad together as close as possible as a matter of practicality; so either double-bunking in adjacent quarters, or going with a single Quad Stateroom setup if the room was large enough. (Given the amount of room each ISC ship has for its class, I might imagine the engineers planning on having each stateroom be just large enough for a viable Quad configuration, just for that purpose.)

For the Rovillians; instead of installing bed bunks useful for the "dry" species, they would see a set of pre-fabricated immersion chambers installed into each quarters. (This would mean no more than two chambers could go in each stateroom, since it would be impractical to try and "bunk" such chambers above one another.)

As for the Q'naabians; they might need an internal airlock installed between the exit and the inner stateroom. The Q'naabian would walk out of the corridor into the airlock, slowly adjust the temperature and atmospheric composition to match his home envirionment, then open the other side of the lock to walk unimpeded into his quarters (and remove his breathing apparatus).

When it comes to rec rooms or suchlike, a similar set of pre-fab components could allow one to either install a large swimming pool for Rovillians (and others looking to take a dip) to immerse themselves within; while others could have a larger airlock installed to allow the chamber to be turned into a giant "cold cabin" if enough Q'naabians are on board to benefit from one.


Prior to Y189, the Concordium would be comfortable enough to add in a broad degree of luxuries aboard each ship; but for the "war" classes (like the CW and DW), the priority might be in the pre-fab components needed for the living quarters, with less importance placed on converting rec rooms.


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Of course, the above is just one option out of many. Does anyone have a thought on how the ISC might do things?

By Michael Bennett (Mike) on Saturday, September 01, 2012 - 10:00 pm: Edit

My two cents worth...go with what you said. Design something based on that.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, September 02, 2012 - 04:25 pm: Edit

I wouldn't be able to work up a set of ISC deck plans myself; but I hope the ideas above might be useful to consider for whoever does get that honour.


Actually, there are a few questions that might need to be answered, too:

*In the sample art for a Rovillian, you can see the individual's head, neck, and flipper/hand; but what does the rest of the Rovillian look like?

It's described in GPD4e as being sort of a cross between a turtle and a dolphin; and you can see what looks like a shell around the head and on the back of the neck; but does a Rovillian have a shell on its back? Does it have a pair of lower legs/flippers/etc to help it stand up on "dry land"? What about a tail?

And while it is said to need its telekinesis to help with fine manipulation, does that extend to movement; as in, does it need to use its mental powers to stand upright and walk about on land?

And overall, what size is an individual Rovillian compared to, say, a Veltressai?

(All of the above would be important, in terms of figuring out how large an immersion tank a Rovillian would need to rest in; or, for that matter, how large a door you'd need to install on an ISC ship for the Rovillian to actually walk through.)


*To repeat a question from my last post; what does a Q'naabian need to function in a class-M environment?

We see a breathing apparatus in the sample art; but the Q'naabian's home world is an awful lot colder on average than Veltrassa, cold enough that most humanoid species would need environment suits to go out and about in.

Are Q'naabians sturdy enough to allow them to function unaided in a class-M atmosphere with just their apparatus; or do they need some sort of skin coating (perhaps some kind of nano-spray) to shield their bodies from the higher temperatures (and atmospheric composition); or does they need to walk around in environment suits instead?


*This is not a question, so much as an observation; but with the talk about feline speeping habits in the Lyran thread, it is worth noting that in GPD4e, the Korlivilar have the Loner, Light Sleeper and Sleepy disadvantages.

So, they seem to need their spece, and their peace and quiet, in order to get their proper rest; so may not be all that keen on sleeping in "warrens", as opposed to more standard cabins.

(And in any case, an old-fashioned bunk would make it less awkward if a Korlivilar crewman was assigned a double-bunk quarters with, say, a Pronhoulite.)