Orichalcum Universe: Animals and plants and monsters and things...

[Johnny1A.2]

For the sake of those who were/are interested, I've been reposting some of
the stuff for my 'Orichalcum Universe' world. Since there's so much of it,
I've been trying to keep in contained to a handful of threads. Still, putting
all the ‘sidebar’ stuff in the ‘Basics’ thread is making it confusing and hard
to sort through, too. So I think I’ll make a couple of threads, one to hold
information about places, and the other creatures, since there are quite a few
of both. This is the ‘creatures and beings thread.

For more about the whole Orichalcum Universe, check out:

Orichaclum Universe The Basics
----------------------------------------------------

[Johnny1A.2]

THE TRAGIC LITTLE APES

SPECIES: MINISIMIUS TRAGICUS
HOME PLANET: MALDARA (MALUS III)

The planet Maladara was one of the most successful examples of the
Familiar Eldren terraforming experiments. Fascinated by its vibrant
and diverse ecosphere, the Eldren periodically introduced new species
and groups of species, usually from Earth, but occasionally from other
worlds as well.

During the early-mid Miocene Epoch, the Eldren decided to introduce
primate breeding stock to Maladara for the first time. The Miocene
was in some ways Earth's 'age of apes', there was a much greater
variety of ape families and genera than would survive into the
Pliocene/Pleistocene, and 'modern history'.

To Maladara, the Eldren introduced several breeding stocks of various
ape species, drawn from various families. Some rapidly went extinct,
others thrived and diversified. For 20 million years, these primates
waxed and waned with local conditions and the success or failure of
their adaptations, both genetic and behavioral, but by the time Man
came to Maladara in 33,680 BC, the apes had managed to become firmly
established on 8 of the major island-continents, and had diversified
into four families and over 25 genera.

Naturally, some were more successful than others. Some genera
consisted of only 1 or 2 species, the largest family had seven genera
and over 20 species.

On the continent on which the Refugees initially settled, the dominant
ape family was quite successful, and a well-established part of the
local ecosystem. Terran taxonomists would later call the family the
Connorisimia(Connor's Apes) after Janice Brent-Connor, a Terran
primatologist who first identified and documented the entire family
(or what remained of it by the time Terrans came to Maladara).

The Connorisimia included an even dozen genera, several of them
adapted for the high northern mountains of the continent, but one to
be found primarily in the fertile mixed-woodland/forests of the
southern reaches. The ones the colonists would later find most
interesting were those Terrans would classify as the Minisimians, the
'little apes'. They were just that, with the tallest, most robust
species averaging 5 ft in adult height, and the smallest species
running no more than 3 ft average adult height. They were strong for
their size, and had considerable endurance, however.

That tallest species, Minisimius pristinus, the 'original little
ape' was so named not because it was a progenitor species to the other
members of its genus, but because it was this species that the
Maladarans, as their biotechnological skills developed, began to use
as the primary breeding stock for a new species.

The biotechnological skills of the best bioengineers and biotechs of
Maladara were actually considerably greater than they usually
displayed, already at TL11 by the time they began their
breeding/genegineering project with M. pristinus, and they were
still learning fast. Starting with M. pristinus, they introduced
new genes, some drawn from other Maladaran apes, some synthesized the
lab, gradually transforming their breeding pool of selected apes into
a new species, later to be called by Terrans Minisimius tragicus.
The Maladarans had their own name for the new breed, of course.

The entire genus Minisimius was unusually intelligent, even for apes.
They were, in fact, the brightest of the Maladaran apes, and M.
pristinus was the brainiest of its genus. It was at least as
intelligent, in its native state, as either Pan troglodytes (the
familiar Terran chimpanzee) or Gorilla gorilla. To make them even
more tempting to the Maladaran biotechs, M. pristinus had a hand
that was actually more dexterous than any Terran primate's except for
Genus Homo. It was not quite like a human hand, but a certain
amount of evolutionary convergence had produced a very dexterous ape.

Natural, unmodified M. pristinus was at home both in the trees and
on the ground, and walked almost upright, though the hips were
different than in Genus Homo, producing an odd rolling gait. They
could stand upright fairly easily, and could walk some distance if
necessary (though they were not as efficient at walking as any
Homosentient species), but by preference and adaptation they preferred
to travel through a forest canopy.

They were omnivorous, and like all the Connorisimia, they had solved a
problem that Terran apes never fully did, they could digest plant
matter (such as unripe fruit) at least as well as Terran monkeys.
They could hunt together to bring down modest-sized game, and tended
to live in extended kin groups led by a dominant male. They were
long-lived for apes, and had well-developed immune systems. Their fur
ranged in color from black to a silvery tone, and they had a
remarkable number of pure-silvery colored individuals.

They were a tempting prospect for the biotechs, and the Maladaran
culture often produced people who had a hard time saying no to
temptation.

MORE LATER.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

The experimentation that led to M. tragicus began in a mostly
unorganized way, and was performed on many species, but over time
attention came to be focused on M. pristinus because of the
already-extant potentials of the species. Various groups performed
various experiments, genetic, cellular, chemical, and surgical, with
various results, some more successful, and some less.

One thing that became apparent to many of the researchers fairly early
on was that M. pristinus was very intelligent, for an ape, and that
the brain structure and neurological activity showed considerable
promise for being amenable to 'upgrading'. Over the course of two
centuries of genetic work, the Maladarans created a new species of
Genus Minisimius out of the M. tragicus root stock. The new species
was a little taller, and not quite as physically strong, but it was
very healthy and tough, and very dexterous, since the genegineers
modified the hands to make them more human-like, improving the already
considerable dexterity of the ancestral stock. Additionally, their
joints were modified, making them effectively double-jointed.

They incorporated genes from other apes, from their own genera and
others, along with some other species, including some limited
Homosentient DNA. Brain size was increased, along with complexity and
neural efficiency. Their need for sleep was reduced, their natural
aggression reduced.

A typical M. tragicus, without further modification, would have the
following stats:

IQ: 08
DX: 16
ST: 15
HT: 16

Their hair was thinned, so that it provided effectively no DR. It was
also modified so that they almost universally had a shimmery silver
hair-color, providing an appearance that most Homosentients find
appealing.

Most M. tragicus display the following engineered genetic
advantages [1]:

Alertness (1)
Ambidexterity
Double-jointed
Longevity (Natural lifespan 70 years +2D6 years, aging rolls start at
age 60)
Rapid Healing
Sanitized Metabolism
Disease Resistance
Rapid Reproduction (triplet or quadruplet births typical, females
highly fertile, both sexes lecherous when stimulated with simple
drugs)

However, almost all M. tragicus also displayed engineered genetic
disads [2]:

Low Pain Threshold
Combat Paralysis
Weak Will (2)

Additionally, almost all M. tragicus were Mute. Their designers
chose, for reasons of their own, to modify their vocal apparatus only
sufficiently to keep them from being able to easily communicate with
natural M. pristinus. They could not form words in the Homosentient
manner.

A few Disads were also displayed as a side-effect, rather than as a
result of intentional work. The skull was thinned somewhat to make
room for brain growth, making M. tragicus more vulnerable to brain
injury (-1 on any roll involving impact to the skull or head). The
alterations to brain structure and chemistry left them more vulnerable
to certain mental aberrations, especially a version of bipolar
disorder. The alterations made to the joints in the germline made the
new species prone to arthritis in late life.

The stats noted above were for an unmodified individual of M.
tragicus, that is, a member of the artificial species 'as is'. As
Maladaran biotechnology improved, they discovered new ways to
'upgrade' their creation, to make them more useful as a worker
species.

It became standard procedure to inject each newborn M. tragicus with
a substance that was physically addictive. Once dependent upon it,
the body of the tragicus would endure excrutiating withdrawal
symptoms if deprived of the regular dosage (usually once monthly).

Symptoms of withdrawawl included:

Extreme pain (-3 on all actions from agony, unable to rest or sleep)
Disorientation (-2 on all IQ and DX rolls)
Weak Will (additional -1 on top of -2 natural Weak Will)

If deprived of the addictive substance, an addicted M. tragicus
would roll vs. HT once a day after withdrawal symptoms begin, on any
failure HT drops by 1. HT drops until a critical success or death.
On a critical failure death occurs, in great pain, within hours. On a
success HT remains unchanged, withdrawl symptoms and rolls continue
daily. On a critical success, the creature has beaten the drug, and
rolls stop, withdrawal symptoms gradually fade, and HT returns at a
rate of 1 per week until it reaches normal level.

Naturally, in most cases deprivation of the substance led to a nasty
and slow death, so that almost all M. tragicus had the Dependency
disadvantage. Standard procedure on Maladara was to inject the
addictive at six weeks of age.

Even Maladaran biotechnology proved unable to raise the creatures' IQ
above 8 by germline engineering alone without prohibitive side-effects
and cost. [3] Instead, the Maladarans developed various enhancement
drugs that acted on the brain of the M. tragicus to increase
effective intelligence while they were present in the system. At
first, these were regularly injected to increase the IQ of the
creatures.[4]

Later, the Maladarans developed symbiotic organisms that could be
implanted in a young (2D6 weeks old) tragicus that would link to the
brain and central nervous system, and constantly secrete appropriate
amounts of the enhancement drugs in response to brain activity. Other
symbiotic bio-implants were developed that stimulated pain and
pleasure centers in response to the tragicus hearing certain command
words or other stimuli. The owner (or anyone who knew the conditioned
commands) of a tragicus could inflict pain or pleasure with
literally just a word.

With the intelligence-boosting symbiotes, the species gained a level
of IQ, rising to an average of IQ 9. Next to H. eostellaris and H.
sapiens, they were the smartest species on Maladara. They did almost
all the boring, routine physical labor in the Maladaran society that
required more 'awareness' than machines could provide, and the
brightest, best-conditioned of the creatures acted as personal
servants, entertainers, etc.

They were bright enough and dexterous enough to be trained to do
routine maintenance work, and they could use tools readily. They
could not speak, but a sign language system was developed, and they
could and did use devices that enabled them to 'type' or otherwise
operate a voder or a display system.

MORE LATER.

[Johnny1A.2]

It took over a century of work to produce a sufficiently stable
(physically and mentally) breeding population of M. tragicus for
commercial purposes, but once they did, they were a tremendously
profitable creation. The company (or commercial entity, there is no
exact translation of what they were) kept the basic genetic templates
as propriety data, and various engineered features in the cells
prevented others from simply analyzing the cells to get the data.
They also leased only sterilized individuals of the species to users,
keeping the fertile breeders sequestered in company facilities.

Customers could only lease the tragicus individuals, not buy them,
but the lease was often life-long. They made superb workers, more
effective than the robots possible to Maladaran technology, and
cheaper as well. The techniques of control were good enough that it
was very nearly unheard of for a tragicus to harm a Homosentient,
even if seriously abused. In most cases, the limiting condtioning was
so strong that a M. tragicus could be literally beaten to death
without it being able to bring itself to fight back. This was known
to happen upon occasion, and was considered a property crime.[1]

Even if one of the pathetic creatures was able to break its
conditioning sufficiently to fight back, it would not have a very good
chance. They were fairly strong (ST 15 average), but their hair was
thin enough that it provided little protection, their teeth had been
modified so that their bite did no more damage than a typical
Homosentient's, they had no claws, and they had a very low pain
threshold at the best of times. Add in their nearly universal combat
paralysis, and they were all but helpless. Needless to say, they were
never taught combat skills of any sort by the company that bred
them, and it was in fact strictly illegal to do so.

Unfortunately, a side effect of the increased intelligence that the
genegineering and symbiotes provided was that the creatures were able
to fully comprehend their position in Maladaran society. They knew
that they had been designed as living tools, that they were altered to
be useful to another species without regard to their own needs or
wishes, and they were unable even to get angry about it, because of
their conditioning and symbiotes that limited their freedom of
emotional reaction.

They could not get angry (usually), but they could become bitter, and
most were. They tended to be deeply bitter, but not pasionately
bitter, since they were not able to react passionately under normal
conditions. Along with the bitterness, and linked to it, was a
melancholy that permeated their nature in a way few Homosentients
could full appreciate. It was not quite despair, but it was a
resigned hopelessness, and a certain pride in hopeless refusal to give
in to despair.

In Maladaran culture, the idea that what had been done to Minisimius
tragicus was morally wrong would have been almost inexpressible.
They simply tended to see living things as just another kind of
machine, and the idea that moral considerations could apply to
bioengineering was foreign to them.[2] There were always a few
Maladarans who saw matters differently, but never enough to matter.

In the rest of the Hegemony, there was some outrage. On some worlds,
it was illegal to import one of the creatures, and some places refused
to trade with Maladara over the matter. The Hegemonic Government had
no authority to intervene, even if they wanted to, but they did tend
to frown on efforts by the company that bred them to export them
off-world. It happened, but there was always some resistance from the
Hegemony and from some member-governments.

But the worlds were far apart, and for the most part, as long as it
was confined to Maladara, there was little opponents could do, and the
Maladarans thought the objections of the moralists were nonsensical.

By 31,990 BC, there were literally hundreds of millions of M.
tragicus on Maladara. They were a vital element in the planetary
economy. Ironically, they would also play a role in the downfall of
the Hegemony. But about that...MORE LATER.


[1] That is, since the creature was leased, not purchased, to kill it
was to destroy valuable property of the company that bred them.
Maladara had no 'cruelty to animals' laws. It was not really even a
legal or cultural concept they were familiar with.

[2] Whether that attitude derived from their skill in bioengineering,
or contributed to it, or both, is unclear

[Johnny1A.2]

BROODWYRMS

TAXONOMY: N/A

NOTE: Credit where it is due, the inspiration for these creatures is
the Mazeworm, by Scott Paul Maykrantz.

The term 'broodwyrm' is a Terran moniker applied to the greatest of
the Maladaran bioengineering accomplishments. The first broodwyrm was
created by a team of Maladaran techs led by the brilliant Koalidi Byth
Kormadois.

A broodwyrm is unlike any other form of Solarigen life. Its nature
crosses the lines of kingdom and domain, and indeed application of the
Linnean classification system to them is meaningless, since they lack
any sort of evolutionary history. They incorporate genetic material
from animal and plant, from every phylum of animal and many other
domains. Even at the cellular level, they incorporate both
prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

A broodwyrm begins life in the form of a globe of flesh, surrounded by
a scaly layer, about 30 centimeters in diameter and nearly inert. In
this form, an embryonic broodwyrm can endure almost forever, its
metabolism perfectly suspended. Only when in a clement environment
will the scaly layer split apart and the broodwyrm begin to grow.

A 'clement environment' can be highly variable. Broodwyrms are
comfortable in any gravity from .50 to 1.5 Terran standard, in
temperatures ranging from about +180 degrees Fahrenheit down to about
-150 Fahrenheit, and in pressures from about 50 kiloPascals to 3000
kiloPascals. They are able to endure radiation levels anywhere from
nearly zero to several hundred rads/hour.

But they are Solarigen life, for all their strangeness. They must
have a supply of nutrients and water. The usual environments for
these creatures to thrive is shallow underground, in good quality
soil, or under shallow waters (100 meters or less on Terra). They are
sessile, and once the embryo is placed in suitable soil or on a
suitable underwater surface, it will emit root-like tendrils that will
begin absorbing nutrients and water. [1]

Broodwyrms grow as fast as local conditions permit, up to their innate
limits, and it is extremely rare for a broodwyrm to be in conditions
so good that the native limit applies. They can grow to one-hex scale
in a week, to 50-hex scale in a month, and then they settle to a slow
but steady growth. [2]

By the time a broodwyrm reaches 10-hex size, it has reshaped itself
from a sphere to a disk, displaying a general radial symmetry. The
outer layer becomes a tough (DR 30) shell of somewhat flexible
integument. If the broodwyrm is underground, additional 'roots' emerge
laterally from the outer circumference, joining the roots already in
place below the creature. The roots can reach out as far as ten times
the diameter of the creature at 10-hex scale, and they provide both
nutrition and anchorage.

If the creature is growing on the floor of a lake or sea, the lateral
'roots' don't manifest, instead additional ventral roots emerge, and
those produce laterals. As a subterranean broodwyrm grows, its
'roots' also eventually begin to subdivide (and merge where they
meet), until it is surrounded by an intricate mesh of interconnected
'roots'. [3]

Within the creature, hollows appear, which grow into chambers and
corridors which interconnect in a vast radial maze. The hollows grow
vertically until the broodwyrm is about ten to fifteen meters from
base to top, at which point vertical growth ceases and radial
expansion continues. Within the broodwyrm, usually 2 or 3 'levels'
stabilize, each a separate maze of corridors and chambers,
interconnected only in scattered locations within the creature.
Toward the edge of the creature, the vertical thickness narrows to
about three meters.

Though vertical growth ceases relatively early, radial expansion can
continue almost indefinitely. The internal biological systems of a
broodwyrm are laid out in a network. The creature has a circulatory
system, and it grows a new heart (or heart-like organ, actually) every
so often, letting the system avoid hinging on a single pump.
Likewise, all the other systems of the creature, including its nervous
system, are 'distributed'.

Broodwyrms contain no bone as such. Structural strength is provided
by 'ribs' of a biologically-synthesized plastic, which is sufficiently
rigid to provide stable structure and just flexible enough to be
almost impossible to break. The outer circumference of the creature
is marked and supported by these ribs, and as the creature grows, new
rings of supports grow with it. Cross-connections brace the ribs,
creating a vast articulated three-dimensional network. [4]

Because of the structure of the creature, there are few inherent
limits on how large it can grow radially, much as there is little
limit on how much area a single-story structure could be constructed
to cover. Ultimately, biological limits (on signal propagation, food
supply, etc) limit it, but broodwyrms can grow under some conditions
to be well over two kilometers in diameter. [5]

Naturally, such immense creatures require energy and nutrients. Much
of it derives from their 'root' structures, which can extend for miles
in mature broodwyrms, reaching all the way to the bedrock, or across
many square miles of seafloor. These are far more efficient than
genuine roots, drawing material from chemosynthesis and by consuming
organic matter that comes into contact with their surfaces.

Additionally, mature broodwyrms extend tendrils dorsally, to reach the
surface of soil or sea, where they can extend photosynthetic
structures which will, chameleon-like, take on an appearance similar
to that of the genuine plants of the region. The energy and nutrients
from photosynthetic processes add to the resources of the broodwyrm.

Once a broodwyrm reaches a stable size (limited by available resources
or biological limits), its energy requirements fall sharply, because
they have tremendously efficient metabolism. But even so, they
require a steady flow of nutrients, and this is supplemented by
carnivory.

Broodwyrms underground can prey on animal life that crosses their
upper surfaces, through channels cut to the surface. Tentacle-like
organs can snake through these channels to capture creatures up to ten
hexes in size for consumption. However, a broodwyrm will not pass up
smaller prey. Anything larger than a field mouse is vulnerable if it
crosses the top of a hungry broodwyrm.

Underwater broodwyrms feed on sealife around them, and can and do
reach to the surface with their 'tentacles' to capture surface life,
or even creatures on the shoreline under some conditions.

MORE LATER.

[1] 'Root-like' is correct, since though they fulfill a purpose
somewhat like plant-roots, they have animal-like structures within
them.

[2] Of course, this assumes ideal conditions of nutrition and
hydration.

[3] Though broodwyrms can thrive underwater, buried in soil is the preferred state.

[4] Technically, it is not the broodwyrm proper that secretes the
plastic, but colonies of symbiotic bacteria within the broodwyrm.

[5] These are rare, however. The vast majority of broodwyrms do not
reach one mile in diameter, with 500-800 meters in diameter being
typical.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

Access to a broodwyrm interior is possible, but doing so by means of
the feeding channels is unwise, because the tentacles emerge from
'digestive chambers' filled with hydrochloric acid and potent
digestive enzymes. An unprotected Homosentient drawn into a broodwyrm
digestive chamber will take 3d damage every 30 seconds until
escaping or dead. [1]

Safer access to the interior of a broodwyrm is possible by means of
openings designed for that purpose. Every mature broodwyrm has 3d
openings spaced around the circumference, at apparent random. These
openings will be roughly three meters in diameter when fully dilated,
but normally they dilate only as much as necessary to permit access
for a given creature. Normally, these openings remain tightly sealed,
and are at -6 to be located because when they are closed, they blend
into the surface appearance.

In the case of sapient broodwyrms, the perimeter openings are under
the control of the broodwyrm consciousness. In the case of
non-sapient broodwyrms, various psionic and/or chemical cues can be
used to open them, and similar techniques can be used to override the
control of the central mind in the case of a sapient broodwyrm. The
chemical cues are complex, and vary from creature to creature. This
feature was designed to permit access to the broodwyrms by their
creators.

The perimeter 'gates' open and shut by dilation, and can shut in one
second. A ring of muscles surrounds each portal, and can compress
them shut with sufficient force to sever an unprotected Homosentient
limb, the moreso because the edge of each portal is lined with 'teeth'
that are razor-sharp.

The perimeter portals open onto a corridor that runs the full
circumference of the broodwyrm. Though the internal layout of each
broodwyrm is unique, they all have this out perimeter corridor. The
inner mazes open from this corridor, some sloping up to the second or
third level (if there is a third), some sloping down to the lower
level. There are 'dilation-ports' over these openings as well, but
these are normally open. They do have the razor-edge, however, and
can snap shut, however, on a second or so of notice.

The default environment within a broodwyrm's maze is actually quite
clement. The interior surfaces are covered in something like thick
blue-brown fur, or moss. Its usual internal environment is almost
ideal for Homosentient life, with indeed a slightly higher partial
pressure of oxygen than Terran sea level. Temperatures are usually
between 60 and 80 degree Fahrenheit. Light tends to be a soft bluish
glow from bioluminescent bacteria, which provide a light ample for
most purposes, though not ideally comfortable to Homosentient eyes.
[2][3]

Under the surface of the 'moss' on the walls is a layer of tough
'skin', which has about DR 5 and is layered. It sometimes moves
gently, in response to various biological activities going on within
the 'walls'. The interior skin will be warm to the touch, much like
Homosentient skin.

The circulatory and other systems that keep a broodwyrm alive are all
within the 'walls' and 'floor' and 'ceiling'. But they are
sufficiently distributed and redundant that damage in any given area
will usually harm only the immediate area of the broodwyrm. Only a
few areas are 'critical', and they are not easy to distinguish from
the rest.

The mazes cross-connect intricately. The corridors tend to be about
two meters in height and a meter wide, oval in shape, and periodically
spaced with the dilation-ports, complete with the razor-edges. The
chambers vary widely in size, some of them dead ends but some linked
to a dozen or more corridors.

Near the center of the broodwyrm (but not necessarily at the precise
center) will be the largest chamber, connecting to all levels of the
creature just as the perimeter corridor does.

There is more to be told of these bizarre creatures.

MORE LATER.


[1] If the walls of a digestive chamber are breached, similar damage
is done to the surrounding tissue and structures of the broodwyrm that
come into contact with the digestive substances.

[2] The standard air composition and pressure of broodwyrm interior
actually matches that of Maladara, at the time the first broodwyrm was
created.

[3] When nutrients and energy are short, chemical signals put the
bacteria into suspension, to save energy. The interior of a broodwyrm
is only fully lit and warm when it is fully active.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

This central chamber will vary in size (usually from about 50 meters
to 150 meters in diameter), and won't necessarily reflect the size
of the broodwyrm. The walls of this chamber are lined with intricate
masses of tissue, under a thin but tough transparent membrane (DR
10-15), interwoven with countless capillaries and large 'blood'
vessels. This tissue is actually a massive neural nexus, where the
vast networks of nervous tissue that run back and forth across the
creature intersect.

The room will be braced and supported by 'ribs' of the
organically-secreted plastic that forms the skeletal structure of the
creature. These will be cross-braced by circular loops of the same
material, forming a roughly spherical cage-like structure that
supports and protects the innermost chamber.

There may also be an additional feature in this chamber: some
broodwyrms are sapient, and those that are will have a brain-like
organ in this chamber, suspended from the spherical ceiling and walls
by intricate webs of the same membrane that protects the neural tissue
that coats the walls. The 'brain' will be about 4-6 meters in
diameter, and is protected by an even tougher layer of the same
membrane that supports it and protects the walls (DR 15-20).

The 'brain' will be connected to the surrounding walls (and their
layer of neural tissue) by hundreds of thick strands of tissue
containing countless nerve-trunks. These will also be sheathed in the
membrane, but in a thinner form providing only DR 10 or so. These
'trunks' also contain the blood vessels and other necessary components
that sustain life in the brain-core.

Even in sapient broodwyrms, the 'brain' is actually not a vital
organ, from a survival POV. The destruction of the 'brain' will
destroy the mind and personality of the broodwyrm, but it will
continue to live if not otherwise damaged, simply reverting to the
mindless state other broodwyrms always show. In time, a broodwyrm
with a destroyed 'brain-core' can grow a new one, though with it will
be a new personality and identity, the old one is still dead.

There are various protective features for this vital central chamber,
since unlike the brain-core, the neural tissue covering the walls is
vital to the survival of the creature. All openings into the central
chamber have the razor-sharp dilating seals, and they are normally
tightly closed. Additionally, there are enormously strong (ST 40)
tentacles normally wrapped smoothly into recesses in the chamber.
They can unfold and reach anywhere in the chamber, and are lined with
rows of the razor-sharp serrated 'teeth'. A typical broodwyrm will
have 10-20 such tentacles in its core-chamber. If the creature is
sapient, they will be under the conscious control of the broodwyrm.
In other cases the tentacles will lash out under instinctive
protective programming against any intruder in the central chamber.

Unlike much of the rest of the interior of the broodwyrm, the central
chamber has no natural source of light.

The dilation-ports connecting the central chamber to the rest of the
creature are protected by tentacles as well, in the chambers and
corridors outside the central area. Each such portal has three
clusters of tentacles which can snare or slice at anyone trying to
force the portal. The clusters emerge from concealed openings hidden
120 degrees or so around the circular gap, and each has the
razor-edges and tremendous flexibility, and each as ST 15.

Within the central chamber, a further defense exists. The transparent
membrane that protects the vital tissues and organs within the core
chamber is conductive, and can transmit a bioelectric charge to any
unprotected organism in contact with it. It can 'fire' once an hour,
and delivers 3D6 damage, and can damage or destroy many forms of
electronic equipment.

The broodwyrm can monitor its own interior volumes fairly easily, by
means of several internal senses. It has the ability to watch its
interior directly by means of what amount to eyes set into recesses
through the mazes, with additional eyes in the central chamber. These
eyes are identical in function to human eyes, save that they include a
nictitating membrane, and are usually protected within their recesses
by a thin layer of the plastic-like material that provides structure
to the creature. Each protective layer provides DR 3 to the eye it
guards. [1]

A broodwyrm can contain literally thousands of internal eyes, and can
integrate their views as easily as a Homosentient combines the input
from two eyes. For practical purposes, most of the time it can be
said that a broodwyrm sees everything going on within its internal
volume.

A broodwyrm can detect and analyze vibrations as well, through various
highly sensitive internal surfaces. For most purposes, a broodwyrm
can be assumed to hear every sound within its internal volume, down to
about half a decibel. In some internal areas, the sensitivity is
higher. [2]

MORE LATER.


[1] In thin layers, the 'plastic' is highly transparent, becoming
first translucent and then a pale white in thicker masses.

[2] There are a few places within each broodwyrm that it can not see
or hear, for lack of eyes or vibration-detecting organs in those
regions. This is part of their basic design.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

Broodwyrms are artificially engineered creatures, and they exist (or
at least at one time they existed) to serve specific purposes. The
key feature of a broodwyrm that enables it to serve that purpose is
its bionodes.

There are no bionodes in the perimeter corridor, in the central
chamber, or in the connecting corridors of the mazes. But the various
chambers that those corridors link to, and some larger corridor-like
chambers, do have many bionodes, which range in volume from about 1000
cubic centimeters, through various sizes up to 70,000-100,000 cubic
meters.

A bionode is appears as a circular opening in the walls of a chamber,
but it does not look like the portals between chambers, because it is
clearly lined with intricate tissues and organs, far more complex than
the simple dilating gates that separate the chambers and corridors of
the mazes. The size of the opening will be in proportion to the
bionode volume, and which they are clearly different, even to a casual
inspection, from the doorportals, they do dilate shut by a similar
mechanism.

In the interior, each bionode is a hollow volume, usually cylindrical
or spherical (roughly), with only the one opening. The interior
surface is lined with the most complex and intricate biological
structures to be found within a broodwyrm (except for the central
chamber). Large blood vessels feed intricate networks of capillaries
all around each bionode, and think nerve trunks link each bionode
directly to the central nervous network, and the brain-core, if there
is one. Analogues of glands cover much of the interior of each
bionode, and there are literally hundreds of millions of cilia-like
extrusions.

A bionode is a biological factory, a sort of mass-production womb.
Within a bionode, a broodwyrm can 'grow' living things, almost
anything for which the broodwyrm possesses an appropriate genetic
template. If the information and genetic data are available,
creatures can be grown in the bionodes that have no natural
equivalent. The primarily limit on what can be grown in a bionode is
volume, which is why so many different sizes of these organs exist.

The length of time it takes a broodwyrm to 'grow' a new creature
depends on the size, nature, and complexity of the creature. It
could, for ex, given the appropriate template cells and tissues, grow
a jellyfish in a day, or grow a healthy mouse in a week. A typical
broodwyrm could grow a horse in two weeks, a Homosentient being in
three weeks (the smaller mass offset by the greater complexity).
These times assume in each case that the creature is the first of its
sort the broodwyrm has grown. After the first one, the time required
for later creatures of the same species in 80% of the original.

Additionally, a bionode can act as a TL13 autodoc, assuming that the
broodwyrm has the appropriate medical knowledge for the species in
question, or has had time to extensively examine another member of
that same species. The time necessary to repair whatever is wrong
would depend on the nature and extent of the damage, and the
familiarity of the broodwyrm with the creature. Short of actual
death, there are very few things a broodwyrm could not restore, given
time and information. Even extensive neurological damage can be
reversed, if the broodwyrm has sufficient information, and the
necessary underlying structures are still preserved.

It would require a broodwyrm about three days, for example, to fully
reverse brainburn, assuming the subject was otherwise in good health,
and the broodwyrm was familiar with the particular Homosentient
species.

The flipside of these abilities, unfortunately, is that a bionode can
also be used to inflict extreme torture, over long periods of time.

A bionode could also be used to transform a living creature, within
limits. (Past a certain point, radical transformations almost always
end in death.) [1]

It is a straightforward proposition for a bionode to grow a clone.
All that is required is healthy living tissue with the necessary
genetic information available. In theory a single living cell would
be sufficient, in practice the chance of success is much higher if
several cubic cm of tissue are present.

Starting from long-dead tissue is much harder, but possible with more
time and effort on the part of the broodwyrm. (It would be
theoretically possible, for example, for a broodwyrm to grow a living
dinosaur from fossil remnants, but in practice it would be very
difficult, time-consuming, and uncertain.) [2]

The number of bionodes in a typical broodwyrm varies by size. There
are typically over a million bionodes in the 1000 to 8 million cubic
cm range, but only a relative few larger ones. The largest ones, with
volumes of up to 100,000 cubic meters, may number no more than a dozen
in a typical broodwyrm, though the very largest might have as many as
25. Of course, these monster broodwyrms also have far larger numbers
of smaller bionodes as well.

A living creature inside a bionode is usually held in a state of
suspended animation, thus permitting whatever is proceeding to occur
painlessly. A bionode can also suspend life-processes almost
indefinitely for a wounded creature, until such time as the broodwyrm
learns how to repair the damage. The time limit for this varies with
the situation, but can run to centuries. The suspension is deep enough
that no physical or psychological damage will occur.

It should be noted that the bionodes are under the control of the
broodwyrm, either the instinctive programming for the typical
broodwyrm, or the sapient personality for the sentient ones. What it
does with the resources of the bionodes is up to the broodwyrm, unless
a Homosentient has access to the chemical and psionic overrides
incorporated by the makers of the broodwyrms. [3]

Regarding these creatures...

MORE LATER.


[1] Radical transformation would be major alterations of body form,
gender, etc. For already-adult creatures, such transformations rarely
end well, since they are an attempt to alter a body that is already
formed and running. There are some exceptions to this, however, as we
shall see.

[2] A broodwyrm trying to recreate a dinosaur would need all the
fossil remnants of the species in question that could be found, it
would probably want remnants from other Dinosauria for comparative
study, it would likely want to study modern reptiles and other
vertebrates, etc, before it made the attempt, and even then the odds
of success would be low (-8 or worse). Of course, there would be
nothing to keep the creature from trying over and over, if it was so
motivated.

[3] Thus, if the PCs are hoping to get a broodwyrm to repair Maynard
after he tries to judo-flip the grizzly bear, they would be well advised to
consider what they can offer the broodwyrm for its trouble, or what they
could threaten it with that it would care about.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

As mentioned, some broodwyrms, but not all, are sapient. In fact,
most broodwyrms are not sapient. All have the potential to become so,
but most never even get close to the realization of this potential.

All broodwyrms have a massive nexus of neural tissue in their central
chamber, where the vast larger networks of nerve trunks and local
neural nodes come together. This nexus provides a broodwyrm with the
necessary autonomic control and instinctual drives and restraints that
keep it alive and functional. It is far from alone, of course. There
are countless local ganglial centers that serve as 'local brains', and
each major bionode has its own dedicated neural cluster that controls
it and transfers instructions to and from the center.

Some broodwyrms, usually in response to various chemical triggers,
also grow ca central brain-core, as described in the earlier postings.
Located in the central chamber, this mass of neural tissue is a
necessary prerequisite for sapience, but does not guarantee that
status. However, such a brain core can act as a neural-net
hypercomputer of enormous complexity. This is one of the reasons for
the creation of the broodwyrms in the first place. A mature and
experienced broodwyrm brain has enormous processing power.

Unless specific precautions are taken to prevent it, such a brain-core
is likely to become sentient over time. For every decade of life
after it reaches a stable mature size, a broodwyrm with an active
brain-core has a 1 in 216 chance of 'awakening' (a 3 on 3d). In highly
stimulating or nutrient-rich environments, this might grow to a chance
every year or so.

A sapient broodwyrm has essentially full control over almost all
aspects of the organism. That control can be overridden by certain
chemical and psionic signals, but other than that the broodwyrm has
nearly complete free will. It can build up a gestalt picture of its
interior and exterior through its various senses, making it almost
impossible to sneak up on or surprise a broodwyrm. It can operate an
individual bionode, or all of them at once, any anything in between.
It can also lay plans, ponder contingencies, and develop desires and
interests of its own.

Sapient broodwyrms have access to the latent Telepathic potential that
serves mainly as a control route in subsapient broodwyrms. A typical
sapient broodwyrm possess Telepathy at Power 14-24 (2d+12). Range is
computed from the outer surface of the creature, it can use its
Telepathy at any interior point regardless of Power or range
limitations. Broodwyrms typically possess high skill levels in
Telesend and Telereceive, and may know other Telepathic skills, or
may not.

Additionally, all broodwyrms possess a limited Psychokinetic ability,
contained to their core-chambers, at Power 15. They all instinctively
know Telekinesis at IQ, and some know other PK skills. This ability
does not reach beyond the core chamber, however.

Broodwyrms reproduce by producing the 30-centimeter objects that are
loosely known as 'wyrm eggs'. In fact, these 'eggs' are complex
biological structures, chimaera of various kinds of tissue like the
adult broodwyrms. For technical reasons, a broodwyrm can not grow an
egg in a bionode. Instead, the eggs form from specialized organs in
the central chamber.

A broodwyrm can be stimulated to produce an 'egg' by use of the the
chemical triggers that control the creatures, or a sapient broodwyrm
can choose to produce an egg at will. In both sapient and non-sapient
broodwyrms, however, eggs are occasionally generated spontaneously.
It takes a well-fed broodwyrm about a week to produce an egg that is
ready to detach.

Since the broodwyrm eggs form in the central chamber, they have to be
moved out of the broodwyrm to take 'root' on their own. This can be
achieved in any of several ways. The broodwyrm can bargain with
another creature to transport its egg(s), or create a creature to
move them. If a broodwyrm suspects its death is likely in the near
future, it may create an egg, and retain it within its body, so that
it can take root should the parental creature die. Most broodwyrms
have a small army of 'drones' already at their disposal. [1]

Broodwyrms typically have little or no reproductive urge. Only after
the egg has formed does a strong desire to see it removed and taken
elsewhere to root fill the mind (if sapient) of a broodwyrm, and even
then it can fight the desire if it has a reason to do so. But
broodwyrms are not typically fecund creatures.

The greatest single limit on the vast potentials of a broodwyrm, of
course, is energy and nutrients. In order to use all the bionodes at
once, sufficient raw materials and energy must be available, which is
not a trivial matter. Most broodwyrms, even most sapient ones, spend
most of their time in a state of near-total suspended animation,
conserving their food and energy. These immense creatures, with
immense abilities, require immense amounts of food and water to
operate at full capacity.

A broodwyrm can live almost as long as conditions permit. No
broodwyrm has ever died of old age.

Assigning stats to a broodwyrm is almost meaningless. Their sheer
scale and enormous abilities skews such categorization. Sapient
broodwyrms do have IQ stats, generally about 1D+10 or so for mature
and experienced broodwyrms. It makes more sense to talk of DX and ST
for individual components of the creature. A broodwyrm HT tends to
run in the neighborhood of 19/5d+150 (or more!).

There are more details to be revealed about these things, but that can
wait until another time.

[1] DRONES: One genetic template every broodwyrm instinctively knows
is for the drones that they use as servants and remote-hands. Almost
all broodwyrms manufacture at least a few WyrmDrones, and some create
many such. A 'typical' m mature broodwyrm probably has at least 1D6 *
50 on-hand for use, if it is 'awake' and active, with plentiful
resources of food and water. If not, most its drones will be in
suspended animation within the broodwyrm.

A Typical Wyrmdrone:

IQ 02
DX 18
ST 16
HT 10

These creatures are basically almost mindless. Each one has three
highly dexterous and capable tentacles, moves on two muscular legs,
and has three eyes spaced around its skull, giving it 360 degree
vision. They average 4 feet tall, with a single lipless mouth. They
feed on a nutrient solution the broodwyrm secrete for them. They are
effectively double-jointed, and their scaly hides have DR 2.

(This substance is foul-tasting to most Homosentients, but is in fact
quite nutritious and rich in calories, and could sustain life for some
time in a Homosentient subsisting on it.)

They basically operate on pure programmed instinct to care for a
broodwyrm, and guard it, and they can be Telepathically controlled to
serve as a set of mobile eyes, ears, and tentacles for a sapient
broodwyrm.

[Johnny1A.2]

The BEASTIES

SPECIES NAME: BEASTIE
TAXONOMY: Animalia Beastie Beastie Beastie Beastie Beastie beastie [1]

The organisms called ‘Beasties’ by Terrans in the 22C are quite
unique, as Solarigen life forms go. The product of advanced and highly
unusual biological engineering, these creatures lack a true evolutionary
history, rather being the result of bioengineered combinations of traits
drawn from many phyla. As a result the Linnaean classification system
does not really apply to it, the formal species name assigned by the
International Biological Sciences Association is something of a sour joke.

These artificial creatures are eight-limbed, but they are not insects, nor
even arthropods. Rather, their limbs are somewhat more like those of
mammals, in terms of their structure, though the joints that anchor them
to the central body, and the appendages at the tips, are quite different.
They appear to have a shell, but this is actually something of an illusion.

Beasties are genuinely strange creatures, by comparison with most forms
of Solarigen life. They are radially symmetric, based on an internal
skeleton (as noted above, they are not arthropods). This internal
skeleton is centered on a set of three ‘spines’, lying in a single plane that
forms the central plane of the animal. These are composed of vertebral
segments not entirely dissimilar to those of true vertebrates, though shaped
rather differently at a fine level because of the need to carry different loads.
The spines are separated by gaps of some one hundred and twenty degrees,
and intersect near the center of mass of the creature, linked by a structure
of bone and cartilage that has no analogue in any other Solarigen animal.

Within these spines are the primary nerve trunks, in an arrangement akin
to that of vertebrate life. The actual, functioning brain of the Beastie is
located within a bony shell directly above the intersector (the bone-and-
cartilage structure that links the 'spines'), still well within the body of the
Beastie. The brain of a Beastie is actually disturbingly similar in some
ways to that of a Homosapient, though of course many fine-level differences
exist. The central ‘skull’ is approximately spherical, penetrated mainly by
openings for blood vessels and nerve trunks.

The many nerve-trunks that radiate out from the brain provide redundancy.
Almost every path between the brain and each part of the Beastie body has
at least two working signal paths, either of which is sufficient. Thus, even
severing a major nerve trunk will not necessarily cripple a Beastie
immediately. The redundant nerve trunks, where possible, run through the
body by different routes, we well.

Another nerve trunk runs from the brain to the 'head' of the Beastie, the
lump of tissue in which the eyes of the creature are to be found. This lump
atop the creature contains a secondary nerve-cluster, a sort of sensory
coprocessor, that integrates the signals from the ring of eyes on the 'head' to
provide the Beastie with 360 degree vision.

(The color blindness was a trade-off for 360 degree vision. Koalidi found
that giving a Solarigen creature 360 vision in a really useful form was a
difficult task, without completely ‘rewiring’ many of the neural structures.)

The 'head' of a Beastie contains a thin shell of bone protecting the
secondary nerve center, with openings for the eyes. The eyes can
self-regenerate if damaged, but if the nerve-cluster is destroyed the
Beastie loses its primary source of vision until medical attention is
provided. The ring of eyes around this central ‘head’ provide both
complete three hundred and sixty degree vision and redundancy.

A Beastie also has a secondary vision system, in the form of small
optical sensors spaced around the body, but they are far less
discerning and useful, providing mainly an ability to detect light and
motion. Still, they mean that even a Beastie suffering the destruction
of its ‘head’ can still see and interact the external universe.

MORE LATER.

[1] The taxonomical classification is something of a bitter joke on the part
of the International Biosciences Association’s Taxonomical Board.