◂ The worlds · The Oon

The Tessel

A hive species with a queen, workers, and a shared scent. They can't stand being alone.

Zilmo from orbit. Development art.

HomeworldZilmo

RegionThe Oon

CultureA culture of caretakers, cooks, and hosts. Everyone has a role, and nobody questions it.

ReputationLoyal, helpful, and unsettlingly polite.

If you visitZilmo hums with a thousand quiet conversations, and every wall is warm.

Story hookA Tessel with a will of their own is a disturbance in the hive.

Abigail's notebookIt's all in the honeycomb in the chest. My bead reports no speech detected and I have been told, as far as anyone can tell me, that one of them wrote me a lovely note, and it's on my jacket. It smelled like toast for a month.

Tessel body study: front, side and back views — Tessel body study. Development art; bodies are still in review, so a picture may not match every word yet.

Six possible individuals

How different can one people look?

Every person in a people has a body of their own. These are painted studies of how far the Tessel can stretch: tall, tiny, wide, long-limbed, odd. Explorations, not final designs.