## Abstract

This is a pitch to port the Teshari species from various other stations to Doppler Shift.

Teshari is the order of which many closely-related species of sapient, raptoral pack hunters comprise, known to generally be widely nomadic and communal. Their hypersocial nature allows them to swiftly and effectively communicate on a grand scale, allowing for expansion into space from an otherwise physically weak species.

Teshari have been mentioned in discussions of lore early on in the server (and still exist as an offhanded mention within the [Ramatae](https://wiki.dopplershift13.com/Cultures/Species/Ramatae) lore page), but have never been ported to the codebase. The notion of porting Teshari has been shaky for a while, but the Board, Maintainers, and Lore Keepers have each mentioned that a port for this species would be considered acceptable, so this is part of an effort to bring them aboard the Nine Lives Promenade, for further species diversity and player options.

## Goals

1. Provide players with a new, non-anthropomorpic species for deviation.
2. Make said species feel unique and a fun choice to play.
3. More clearly solidify existing lore in relation to Teshari.

## Non-Goals

1. Add species features that would restrict or impede roleplay.
2. Strain our spriters even more than presently, good heavens.

## Secrecy’s Bane: Sensitive Ears

Teshari bear a sensitive set of ears to detect even the faintest of noises. Due to their ears, if they hone in, they may hear whispering from a significantly larger distance away compared to most.

This ability would remain **toggleable**, and the needs of the trait covered by the existing **Good Hearing** trait.

They will have a natural sensitivity to loud noises — their ears bear a damage multiplier of **1.5**, but while this effect is active, their damage multiplier would increase to **3.0**.

## Hunting Instincts: Agility

Teshari will have another **toggleable** ability, to allow them to pass across objects like tables as if it was any other tiling without the need to stop and climb over, akin to the *Dwarfism* mutation. Due to their short stature, they will also not shatter glass tables as they pass over them.

## Death By... Less Cuts Than Average: Frailty

Teshari historically evolved to be opportunistic pack hunters — due in large part to their rather frail natures. Teshari would have a damage multiplier roughly akin to the Frail quirk.

Specifically, their **Brute** and **Burn** damage multipliers would be set to **1.2**, causing them to be much less capable of tanking damage compared to most other species.

Furthermore, their **punch** damage would be lowered — lower than humans, but it would remain higher than other servers due to our increased health values.

## Raptorial Stature: Biology, Limbs, & Clothing Sprites

Teshari, given their raptorial stature, do not quite fit into the same sets of clothing as others may. As such, they will require **separate worn icons** in order for their outfits to function. Given that we do not have many spriters for this server, and would certainly not want to add strain on those gracious enough to contribute outfit sprites, we shall have a system in place to use **fallback sprites** with colors based on the given outfit for any lacking an alternative Teshari sprite, akin to the system on Nova Sector.

The **Body Height** of a Teshari would not be capable of going below **Short**. Likewise, the **Settler** quirk would also only shorten Teshari to that point. The biology of a Teshari will also be maladaptively affected by the **Dwarfism** gene, with it unable to affect their size (and squeezing their internals in the process of trying).

Teshari will also require **raptoral cybernetic limbs** to be implemented, akin to the digitigrade cybernetic legs for lizards and elsewise. The assets required for these already exist within Nova Sector.

Sprites would be sourced and ported from as many existing locations as feasible — this would primarily be Nova Sector, but also would include any other station that bears Teshari if applicable, such as Iris Station or Bubberstation. All outfits should be **recolored such that they fit the color schema of Doppler Shift**. Namely, any blue Security outfits should be recolored to red, and any blue Medical outfits should be recolored to green. Iris Station notably has [two extra tails](https://github.com/IrisSS13/IrisStation/pull/87) for Teshari, as well.

## Culture: Language & Foodstuffs

**Schechi** (final name pending decision from lore) is a creole of the Teshari race which would naturally develop over time for communication betwixt packs on a galactic stage, and would be ported both as a language option and as the natural language for Teshari.

Teshari are generally quite fond of **Meat**, **Gore**, and **Raw** foods, where most Teshari dislike **Gross** and **Grains** foods, and will often struggle to digest them.

## Risks

The difference in their stature of Teshari would likewise require an entirely system for their clothing — of which is known to be at risk of breaking by upstream changes from prior experience. Adding Teshari would require us to remain directly prepared to handle the potential of this outcome.

On many other servers, size has also been a concern for Teshari, due to the mechanical advantages it can provide. Doppler Shift has made a distinct effort to fixate on allowing roleplay options for others over fixating so heavily on balance and mechanical advantages, so I have been lax on many such changes within this document, but this should still be noted if it would provide too much issue in the future. The **Undersized** quirk may also needs be blacklisted — though I do not believe it would be any more necessary given that Teshari are roughly the same size as the shortest achievable humanoid, and Undersized still comes with many related downsides.