Deciphering and translating their language takes a short while longer than usual, as the species seems to communicate both through actual spoken words and by movements and body language. Deciphering their words comes first, and it proves an interesting case in xeno-linguistics, as their spoken language seems to contain a great number of sounds similar to M, L, U, E, H, and K. As such, it can be inferred that these are most likely the vowels of this language. On top of that, the species itself has no mouth in the traditional sense, instead using cobra-like flaps on the sides of their heads and necks that seem to function as gills, baleen, and vocal chords all at the same time to make noise. The movements are somewhat harder to decipher, as most of them seem so small and minute that only they themselves can understand. However, after several weeks upon weeks of study, they are able to decipher the majority of the language they hear and see.
Very funni haha moment. But in all seriousness, it's not like it's producing warmth or anything, they have no need for cooking since they eat krill and plankton. It just produces light and all that.
Xeosia later
>Be Xeosian >Go to observe primitive civilization at bottom of the ocean. >Fall asleep >Wake up a year later covered in vegetation and small animals >Don't care. >Stand up >shake off an entire ecosystem >Walk towards Xeosian coastline like absolutely nothing happened
I always did wonder how someone would make an aquatic civilizaiton.. work. No fire, no cooking, no wood, no mining, etc etc
all tomorrows was interesting with how it handed the merpeople with them growing their tools and furniture using glorious selective breeding, but then again the author must've been on something with that book's several hundred million year plotlune.
The probe would first be approached by one of the older members of the reef, distinguished by their darker color than the younger members. It maintains a distance of a few feet, but still seems very curious about it. "Tay malukoh? Bek malukoh lewuk yu gehlun Kurkaglevub?"
(New outsider? Has outsider come to investigate Kurkag home?)
well I tried my best to realistically explain those things. For fire, they use a bioluminescent substance they found out how to reproduce, kinda like the stuff on the end of an angler fish's little hook thing. They don't need to cook because, like humpback whales, they eat krill, plankton, and chopped up bits of larger animals. They're able to go on land for a short time and live very close to it because reefs, so they either gather wood as washed up pieces or as flotsam, and they get their 'metal' from just... finding rocks on the ocean floor. I don't really have the best explanations for all of this, it's not really plausible at all, and so I do eventually have to just kinda wing it.
(It's fine, I'm literally just BSing words on the spot and eventually I'm gonna flesh it out into an actual language since I have plenty of time over the summer.)
The male elder seems surprised that it can communicate with them and this excitement carries over into what he says to the probe.
"Of course. Come, I will show you our greatest achievements, outsider!"
Worst comes to worst, you could always just use your Lord Given Right™ to Fundamentally Change the Genome of Animals to make.. houses or tea kettles or something. That or you don't worry about it and whabam, it's no longer an issue.