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The blog namespace is for catching stray ideas. These may be less polished than the stuff you see in the Lore namespace.

More on UrbEx

Yinrih lack the raging hormones seen in human teenagers, so what's an adolescent monkey fox to do with all that extra time and energy? Why poke his pointy wet nose where it doesn't belong, of course.

Urban exploration is a common hobby among older pups and young adults. Cheap respirators such as one might find at a hardware store are worn to prevent mold inhalation when rummaging through abandoned buildings. The masks have become emblematic of the pastime among the general public, and in the Commonthroat-speaking world, the word for respirator, qlqlg (pronounced /huff, short low weak grunt; huff, short low weak grunt; short low weak growl/), has become a term for urban explorers in general.

While most explorers are in it just to see where they can go before being politely asked to leave, there are other reasons why a young monkey fox might want to skulk (hehe) around areas not frequented by the public. There's a large overlap with the drug scene, as many explorers are looking for a place to trip on mind candy. In fact, many of the species of mold that their iconic masks protect them from produce spores that are hallucinogenic when inhaled, and there's a subset of so-called h Hqlqlg (no-maskers) that specifically seek out areas where this mold grows in order to huff it.

Among the Outlanders of Moonlitter and the Outer Belt, urban explorers are called spaprql (singular spapr, pronounced /yip, overlong dipping strong grunt, chuff/), which is a type of thick but flexible paw covering worn to prevent lacerations and punctures. The term spapr has a narrower meaning when used by explorers themselves, where it refers to someone who is new to the hobby or otherwise overly cautious. Yinrih avoid covering their paws if they can help it, so someone who insists on covering them in spite of the discomfort is seen as either exceptionally well prepared or overly cautious, depending on who you ask.

2026/03/21 09:31 · lurker

Refining the multilingual database

Here's a more minimalist idea for the multilingual database.

The connectors are (hopefully) correct. Each entry in the lexeme and sememe tables can have zero or more entries in the senses table.

2026/03/18 09:30 · lurker

Comparing Outlander and Commonthroat Words

Just for fun I took the lexicons for Commonthroat and Outlander, imported them into sqlite as database tables, and inner joined them on the definitions column to see what words matched. Here is the result. As you probably guess, these are mostly words from the vulpithecine Swadesh list that formed the foundation of both lexicons.

CommonthroatOutlanderDefinition
rfbr Fbr walk
sgHqg Jh grass
sBCq khj empty
sPlr lm float
HJqg lpl tree
PMqg Lsc muzzle
Pq mp to burn
rnL N not
rFB NP fly
rLPqg PLr light
rbfq qB old
qg qbf wide
qFrg qbF fire
sjHg qBF sky
rpM qcof small
jr qDbq big
qBf qdc two
sjgqg qDC head
rDFr qdr near
rbCq qFD cold
rGg qGH rope
rFbrg qGJ bone
qbf qGJq if
rmn qjhr long
qcb qgkq narrow
j qhj and
Bd qjg wet
rkq qJGq sharp
qMNrg qjh sun
Grg qkg fog
qCFqg qKJ female
scg qLM liver (analogous organ)
MNqg qLN day
rFg qLm name
sGKqg qmqf road
rpLqg qN wind
scfr qNL smooth
rHgg qnlr male
rBg qnm ink
rNlr qPL good
sHKrg qPM root
qmLrg rbc neck
sHJrg rbd ashes
qMLq rC five
qlnr rcb thick
qhqg rcd sire
rfbr rf walk
smnrg rfD leaf
hgq rG because
qNLrg rGJ lake
spLr rgjq round
rhGr rGqscD rotten
sfqg rhgr earth
Dcr rjgq to scratch
scBqg rjhq water
MLqg rjHr tooth
sgH rjK thin
slM rkg six
rnqg rKG paw
qhg rkJ full
LNr rLM few
KJq rMn three
sbfr rmnr far
sKGqg rMp stone
qFdqg rMPq ear
qDCg rN mountain
qjkqg rNp dust
qbC rNpr correct
dqg rPL forest
sKhg rpLr tongue
qNPg sbcq ice
sng sbd skin
qCrg sbf mouth
sPLg sBfr salt
pLg scb cloud
qkgg scbr smoke
rpMr scsc happy
rFcq sd straight
rKgq sDc other
qfr sDF at
qKgrg sfb heart (analogous organ)
jhqg sFb sea
scrg sfDr star
sKHqg sheg seed
qNmqg shJ stick
Kqg shq egg
qgJr sJ many
qcDg sjGq fruit
FDg sjgr sand
sCF sk new
cbqg skg blood
qJKq skgq bad
sDc skGq heavy
sGkg slp eye
qBdg sm river
rBFr sMP four
rdr snl one
BC sp all
rLmqg sPL animal
JGg faf word
qNLg rgug cloaca
qnlq rJkr sick
rKg grrg opine
rjrCFqg rMrMr food
rfCr PN sad
rGhqg lul home
qGHqg cBqrl martyr
snp lel holy
rMLcdrg sbebr computer
2026/03/17 17:54 · lurker

Urban Explorer

A sketch of an urban explorer wearing a respirator. In Commonthroat, the brand name of the respirator, qlqlMr has become the name for members of this subculture of older pups and teens who explore areas of their urban environment not open to the public, such as abandoned buildings and utility infrastructure.

The mask prevents mold inhalation when exploring long abandoned buildings. It doesn't serve to hide the wearer's identity from guards or cops, since yinrih are already face blind and use odor or fur pattern to recognize individuals.

2026/03/17 10:18 · lurker

Funny perfume

Yinrih can derive humor from particular odors. Perfumes exist to exploit this. In particular, it is possible to synthesize a reasonable approximation of a yinrih's ambient musk, though yinrih who smell it will describe it as “exaggerated” or “caricatured” in the same way humans might regard clowns or cartoon characters.

Spraying this perfume on inanimate objects is a very common prank. It's also a way to personify an inanimate object, as humans might by sticking googly eyes on it.

2026/03/16 12:56 · lurker
blog/start.txt · Last modified: by lurker