Language, Hiver
From SOTS
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Naming
Hiver naming depends on how fully one translates them into English, naturally. All Hiver names have a sound and a meaning.
If one pronounces a Hiver name in phonetic terms, one simply uses the sounds of the Hiver language. They do not have lips so certain sounds like "sh" do not exist in their language and they tend to live in thin atmospheres so they use quick vowel sounds rather than deeper or softer ones. On the other hand, they can buzz, hiss, click and chitter in ways that Humans can't so when one sees a "z", a "ch" or a "k", one must imagine the emphasis in Hiver would be stronger.
In general, Hiver names reflect a sense of purpose in one's life or dedication to one's mission. "Chekin" is a common workers' name, meaning "Faithful"—there are countless Hivers whose names roughly translate as "Faithful Son of [Insert Mother's Name Here]". Warriors' names tend to be more utilitarian: "Rizokis" means "Fighting Blades", but there are also warriors whose names translate as "Digging Deep", "Stone Crusher", "Brave Defense", etc. Prince and Princess Hivers tend to have more opulent personal names which reflect some aspect of their physical beauty, e.g. "Obsidian Razor" or "Golden Dawn". The Queen for many centuries was a snow white Hiver with crimson markings on her wings; although all her people simply called her Mother, her personal name was "Blood Dappled Blossom".
A Hiver who has been reincarnated generally maintains his old name, but will have a second name attached to recognize his special value to his mother, e.g. "Twice-hatched", "Thrice-hatched", etc. One of the legendary/mythic heroes of warriors was Rizokis of the Nine Hatchings, who eventually became a Prince Consort to the Queen.
Translating
The suffix "pre", "prek", "pren" etc. generally refers to a nest in which a female Hiver makes her home, in the Hiver language--it would translate as a combination of "creche" and "palace". For example, the Hiver homeworld is called Toto'pre, "The Holy Nest". "Che" and its variants--"chak", "chis", "chaska", "chera", "chakaz"--generally refers to a place where male Hivers live and work, from the worker's dormitory referenced by "che" and "chak" to the warrior's barracks of "chis" and "chaska" to the Prince's demesne indicated by "chera" and "chakaz".
Ships
There are various names used for Hiver ships, some of which are quite interesting. For example, a Hiver command Cruiser called "The Wise Presence". Or three generations of Hiver gate with a mystical name sequence: the Fission era gate called "The Way", the Fusion era gate "The Path" and the Antimatter era gate "The Truth".
Hiver warriors, shipwrights and engineers have the same affection and pride in their vessels that you see in any species. Sometimes the name of a ship reflects its purpose: a Cruiser with multiple missile-launchers mounted might be called the "Cloud of Stings" or "Fire Swarm", whereas an assault-barrage Dreadnought might be named "Thunderous Blows".
Sometimes the name of a ship simply reflects the reason it was built, e.g. "Defender of the Nest" or "The Queen's Ire".
Planet Names
| Arokor | Asbekyz | Atarask | Azkep | Chaztak | Chepren | Chiskatet | Choprekis |
| Chozanti | Chyprek | Chytarok | Chytoket | Chytopris | Ekezic | Etek’tet | Etos'che |
| Ezkepren | Ipriskin | Ir’idan | Isketot | Izakis | Izokot | Kek’kepre | Ketozyz |
| Kiztac | Kozapris | Rapatic | Rizdet | Rizketep | Rozokor | Rychopre | Tisketis |
| Tototchic | Tychopre | Xha’chak | Xheketchis | Xhezek | Za’traxin | Ze'dmore | Zesketet |
| Zozoris | Zyrokin | Zytokot |
When names are used more than once, the name is appended with Roman numerals up to X, and then decimal digits afterwards. For example: Foo, Foo II, Foo III...Foo X, Foo 11, Foo 12...
Click here for general, non–race-specific planet names.
Click here for list of Sci-Fi references.
Communication
Hiver voices come in a variety of pitches, from the trilling song of the smallest workers to the organ-like notes of the great Queens. Percussive sounds and clicks feature prominently in their language. Hivers are capable of forming most of the sounds of human speech simply with their mouthparts, although there are a few that are difficult because they do not have the same arrangement of tongue and teeth that we do.
Hivers cannont "blush". They do not have direct blood flow to the outer shell of their armor "skin", and most workers and warriors only have vestigal wings. Only a Hiver of the breeding class (i.e. prince, princess, or queen) can show emotion and communicate by flow of blood to the visible tissue of the wings.
On the other hand, Hivers do have facial expressions, posture and gesture, and very eloquent body language. All Hivers communicate a great deal of emotional information through pheromones—fear, respect, joy, sorrow, hate, etc.
FTL Communication
Each race has a different method for sending FTL communiqués based on their drive tech. All Hiver vessels carry a tiny miniature "gate" within their communications array. Although it is not capable of transmitting matter, it is capable of transmitting sonic vibrations to other "gates" on its web of recognized transmission points. However, like any gate system, it is limited in traffic capacity, so only vessels in the Queen's service are so equipped.
