Ishar
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| Ishar |
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Ishar is a mysterious, amphibious creature from... somewhere. It appears to be trapped on Endaasi against its will.
Anatomy
Ishar's anatomy and biology is new and unique, completely different from what is known to Starfleet's Database.
His blood is based on proteins and lipids and of purple color.
"Their anatomy is so different that the Tricorder has issues. There's nothing that is similar enough in the database to give us an idea what may be wrong or right with them. So we have to go with visuals. But I do see that it has way more organs than I have seen in other species, I am not sure which is which because their shapes is different and the blood is ... strange. ::She looked up to the creature, some purple splotches were visible here and there. They had been dried so that Jalana had assume it to be part of its pattern, but now after the shower they had started to run and did that mean that was blood? Had they been hurt?:: It's not metal based. That alone isn't so weird, there are several specimen that don't fit our base of how blood is formed. It's just a combination of proteins and lipids that are completely unfamiliar to the tricorder." ~ Jalana Rajel
Language
Ishar's language works differently from ours, so that the Universal translator can't simply translate it.
Ishar’s language isn’t spoken, per se. It seems as though the sounds Ishar make are symbols that represent different mouth postures. Those mouth postures are the thing that ultimately carry meaning. It gets even more complicated when multiple sounds combined indicate highly complex and “imaginary” mouth positions, like the tongue making a shape that is physically impossible for Ishar’s physiology. So instead of making up new words, Ishar’s people make up new mouth positions. Then, those mouth positions correlate to concepts. However, embedded in the message is an auditory “cypher.” In a sense, this is like a tonal language, but far more complex. Instead of the “tone” changing the earning of a word, a series of “tones” change the meaning of the whole idea. Together, these systems (mouth position, tone, etc) made up the basics of Ishar’s language. And that was what the U-T needed to make sense of Ishar. ~ Lazarus Davis
An inter-department Universal Translator Team (UTT) on the Constitution worked on finding a way to open non-telepathic communications with Ishar. With the help of cryptologists and code-breakers the team integrated a model of a neural network into the UT and they figured out how Ishar's communication worked. Ishar was supplied with a portable version to allow him to freely communicate. It is a good base that begins with what sounds like 'broken English' that learns through active communication to improve on itself.
Culture
Not much is known of Ishar's culture as of yet. What is known is that its people spawn in ancestral swamps, have no experience with sentient mammals, and have strong collectivist tendencies, with a clearly defined hierarchy based on life stages.
It also appears that puppetry is an important cultural touchstone for Ishar's people, and references to it are found in Ishar's idioms and metaphor.