What do Vilanis look like? dress, appearance

[Maladominus]

Hmmm years and years of all these Little Black Books.... and I must admit, I'm still not sure:

What the heck does a PUREBRED Vilani look like?? OK so they are Humans just like Solomani. But what do they dress like?

What do their nobles look like? Like some Japanese princess or something? What foods do they like? Fried Vlandish squid? Most of all.... how would a pure-genetic Vilani act like in the Third Imperium.

Are there any galleries or pictures of traditional Vilanis in their traditional clothes and appearances? Links?

Sorry I dont have the Vilani&Vargr module....

 

[clementk]

If the Vilani fashion articles from DGP are any indication big disco boots and billowy robelike clothing.

Sorry, can't get to the mags at the moment.

Unfortunately while the artwork was very good (and it wasn't ALL disco boots; I like the noble and "safari" outfits for instance) it's also "fuzzy" canon being DGP material. While I have and like V&V it had a lot of interesting to read but not directly applicable to use in play material. It's not that it's "fluff" (I use lots of fluff) either. Just it never gets to a lot of things.

T4's combined hardcover campaign book has some bits on Vilani cuisine and culture. There are some threads on Vilani food here on CotI. My take was the presentation is like Iron Chef meets a Japanese steakhouse and Vilani beer and pop has chunks in it.

Mmmmmm.

 

[kafka47]

I would also want to add the images that were protayed in Dogs & Cogs plus TD were also Vilani of the late 3I era. Whilst, Vilani are traditionalists they are not that traditional.

I am really hoping that the artwork in IW gives us something entirely different much as when the first Europeans set their eyes on an Aztec kingdom or Japan feudal costumes.

Difficult task, I know, and probably SJG does not pay enough. But, that is one thing that I will give Lucas credit for in the prequels. The costumes were awesome...especially when you look at the hybridization.

In terms of their general look, I have discussed with Loren. The most logical appearance would be East Indian.

 

[clementk]

Originally posted by kafka47:
I am really hoping that the artwork in IW gives us something entirely different much as when the first Europeans set their eyes on an Aztec kingdom or Japan feudal costumes.

Difficult task, I know, and probably SJG does not pay enough. But, that is one thing that I will give Lucas credit for in the prequels. The costumes were awesome...especially when you look at the hybridization.

In terms of their general look, I have discussed with Loren. The most logical appearance would be East Indian.

Here's to IW having excellent artwork. I don't mind a wait esp. since SJG have kept updates.

I do like the various Art of / How it Works Star Wars books. Some very good costumes overall.

Can you give any specifics on what you mean by East Indian dress? To me that brings to mind hill tribes and Burma (read too much on the Raj when India went much further East). Is that like say Bengal?

Somehow I don't see Vilani in just loincloths. Though after getting into the Tekumel setting (which has many nods to Hindi culture) even loincloths can be ornate (link) .

 

[BeRKA]

This is what the Vilani look like:
http://folklora.lv/kopas/vilonisi/en.shtml

 

[Madarin Dude]

So the Villani are Lithuainian. I thought there was soemthing familiar to the link and then remembered my trip to Vilnus in 99.
I woudl mix it up a bit maybe even simplethings. Think of clothes and how they work mabe soemthing like fitted togas for the top and tights. Here we have a few other takes on fashion too. eatign is another thing there might be an eating taboo that we never would think of.
An example. Youcan't eat the meat of a mamal because all animals that give birth to live young have souls and therfore it is forbidden to eat them. Fish,Chicken, Oysters and squid are fine.
Think of new ways to eat. Here we eat with chopsticks and once you are used to it it feels quite normal. So why would the Villani use knife and fork? Human food is very varied and there are rules in differnt cultures about food.

 

[kafka47]

Not the manner of dress being East Indian, in the post, I mentioned we should see something completely different. Yes, they will conform to the same basic human shape that clothes always have but the mixing of cultures that we saw in the Naboo costumes in SW is a good example of doing otherworldly with designs very much our own.

So far, what I have seen, the Vilani look like Red Guards in current SJG offerings.

The East Indian reference was toward their overall facial and body body profile growing up in Vland's sun would have caused an increase in pigmentation plus a limited population base at the onset. Much as the Yileans look regal African.

 

[robject]

The only reasons the Vilani might condescend to using knife and fork are:

(1) the food might bite them first
(2) the surface acids might not have totally evaporated yet
(3) other reasons

 

[kafka47]

Whilst, doing a google image search came across the following images of Vilani...

Personally, I like the second look more (don't believe me, right click and check out the properties of the site).

However, in terms of a gaming product, we had better go with the suggestion of hybridization like the Star Wars prequels noted earlier.

In terms of food, I imagine again like East Indian food or Ethopian, lots of spices to make the food edible and because of the left-hand sequencing of DNA not a lot of meats. They would have utensils much as we do but different shapes and predominantly eat with their hands.

 

[leadhead]

I came up with this image for Vilani. If the Ancients snagged the people would would become the Vilani 300,000 years ago they would NOT have been Homo Sapiens, they would have been Homo Erectus or Homo Neanderthalis at best.

Thus, I got this

comments welcome

 

[Madarin Dude]

Maybe there would be some adaptation like here on Earth making some other varieties than the homo erectus but differnt from us too. Due to a different color sun and the like could have differnt skin pigmentation too. I read somewhere that purestrain Vilani had yellow eyes I don't remember where though.

 

[kafka47]

Leadhead, I think you emphasized the Neanderthalis roots way too much. Part of the Ancient intervention was to bring everyone up to Homo Sapiens Sapiens norm...including here on Earth. But, I do agree with Mandarin Dude's point about pigmentation which is why I said imagine East/West Indians in Space. Damn fine cricket players they are as well.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Eyes are grey to gold, according to V&V.

 

[Jame]

Anyone know about hair color? I'd think it'd be shades of brown, mostly.

 

[Madarin Dude]

I was even thinking to the point of being blue. There are a few people that have an almost blue pigmentation it is a very rare inherited trait so it is possible. Would make for an interesting look.
Or a simple combination of things we don't have here but there is. Like est Asian eyes with a hi bridged nose and curly red hair.

 

[Andrew Boulton]

Hair is dark brown or black.

 

[kafka47]

Blue Vilani were the subject of canon (back in the days that Dragon Magazine & White Dwarf ran Traveller articles), quite a while back. However, if memory serves me right the Yilians became what is known as the Blue Vilani with a significant diviation from that looking like enobled Africans.

Loren is keeping rather tight lipped on this whole issue. When I mentioned the East/West Indian connection, he had indicated this had come up in discussion but nothing definate had come into being.

I just thing it would be rather cool to have an entire Traveller line to have a defined look other than what passes off in today's products where 80-90% of the characters drawn conform to Euro/American look. Anyone who has travelled extensively realizes that, first, there is no single White race, nor, are Euro/Americans the majority despite their overwhelming cultural dominance (although, even that is being challenged by Bollywood).

I am very much influenced by a book called Being Brown which postulates that the mixture of peoples on this planet thanks to the shrinking of distance and numbers we are going to see a very different world over the next century, as populations from the South move northward.

Now, Traveller has the handwave of cloning that will produce customizable human beings, but, again who is to say that Bollywood influences will not dictate the standards or myths of beauty.

 

[robject]

The Vilani have been spacefaring for so long, I'd think there would be a great diversity of pigmentations. However, I'd say families that are traditionally spacefaring would prefer some kind of pigmentation that gives some protection against solar rays.

 

[Maladominus]

Well at least with my recent purchase of GURPS Humaniti, we now know that at least 10% of Syleans are characterized by albinism (i.e. albinos)

 

[Madarin Dude]

IMTU the dominant race of the solomani is east asian. (Chinese, Korean etc) I think it is partially flavored by where I live.