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

[Johnny1A.2]

TARSIMENTALS continued...

A Tarsimental has a tail, but a much shorter one than their (very distant) Terrestrial kin, and shaped to aid in guiding the creature through the water.

The claws are short and not particularly strong, more like nails than claws, and for somewhat similar reasons once again: dexterity.

Tarsimentals are shallow-water creatures, they are comfortable in pressures ranging from sea level on their home planet (with slightly higher air pressure and comparable gravity to Earth), to a depth of about thirty meters. They can go deeper, but the pressure rapidly becomes a major issue, and pushing their pressure limits can easily be dangerous or fatal, just as with most mammals. Tarsimentals rarely go below the thirty meter line.

Tarsimentals have extremely sharp eyesight, embodied in their enormous (relative to their heads/faces) eyes. Their color vision tilts toward the blue-green end of the visual spectrum, and even eases slightly into the ultra-violet range, as an adaptation to an underwater existence and the higher level of ultraviolent light in the local stellar spectrum.

This same optical sensitivity, however, makes Tarsimentals somewhat vulnerable to bright lights when out of the water. For this reason, among others, Tarsimentals tend to emerge from the water primarily at night, except in extreme circumstances. They are not precisely nocturnal, they are usually active during the day while in the water, but when operating on land they do tend toward a more nocturnal habit.

Tarsimentals are neither precisely bipedal nor exactly quadrupedal. On land, they normally walk on all fours, their limbs are so arranged to make this easy and relatively comfortable. If they need to use their hands, however, they can rise up on their hind legs and operate bipedally for periods of several hours on end at need. Their hind limbs are adapted to be able to redistribute their weight into a resting position, on their haunches, so to speak, for such work.

Though their distant evolutionary ancestors were in fact arboreal, modern Tarsimentals are not particular adept climbers. They can climb trees and other objects, but it tends to be a slow, difficult process. They do have the necessary strength and endurance to cling to a limb or other protuberance for long periods, once they reach them, however.

Tarsimentals have a natural lifespan of about one Terran century. They reach sexual maturity at about the age of ten (in Terran years, that would be about six Cytherean years), but customarily wait several more years before reproducing. This time is spent in learning, training, and socializing, as with humans, they are usually physically able to reproduce before they are ready in other respects.

Tarsimentals tend toward monogamy, most mated pairs remain together for life, and may produce on average between three and five offspring over the course of their reproductive years, though rare cases of as many as twenty have been recorded. Multiple births are very rare, and gestation lasts about half a Terran year.

Tarsimentals do sometimes take a second mate if the first dies prematurely, but this is the exception rather than the rule, especially if past the primary reproductive years, which last about fifty Terran years in both sexes. They form extended family bonds, which can span four or five generations and a range of siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Generally, such broad family groupings are led by the oldest mentally and physically sound member of the group, though exceptions exist.

Tarsimentals are possessed of substantial psionic abilities, though they are not particularly strong at an individual level, they tend to be stable and reliable. Moreover, like the Tavori who are also products in part of Ancient Siccarian genetic manipulation, the Tarsimentals are gifted with an exceptional ability to form psionic 'gestalts' with other members of their race. They can form such unions with little effort and in large numbers, far more easily than beings such as humans can manage. The pay a price in raw power levels for doing so, but the easy of formation and large groups of supporting members usually more than make up for this in their home environment.

The culture and psychology of Tarsimentals is in some ways very familiar to humans, for a number of reasons, and in some ways very alien.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

TARSIMENTALS continued...

In their native environment, Tarsimentals primarily feed on small fish, aquatic arthropods of various sorts, and some plant forms unique to Cytherea. They also can and do eat small animals and insects when they emerge from the water. Modern Tarsimentals engage in aquafarming to supply their needs, though they often feed on wild prey as well.

Among the primary reasons for eating on land is pregnancy. During the final month (Terran reckoning) or so of gestation, the female Tarsimental emerges from the water, and remains out for the remainder of her pregnancy. Generally her mate accompanies her, originally for protection and help in feeding and preparation of a nest.

Modern Tarsimentals prepare protected areas of beach and near-coastal woodland for use as nursery territories, and are very protective of such areas. Few predators would dare go near one, because they are heavily guarded by well-armed and psionically powerful protectors.

Generally, the mother remains out of the water during the last thirty Terran days or so of her pregnancy, and then for another thirty Terran days (give or a take a few) to give her offspring enough time to mature and reach a stage where he or she can swim effectively and enter the water safely.

One oddity of the Tarsimentals that they share with their entire on-planet over-clade and their distant Terrestrial kin (including humanity) as well: their bodies lack the ability to synthesize vitamin C. They get their entire supply of vitamin C from their diet, and are totally dependent upon this source. In their native environment, however, there are a number of reliable dietary sources for this substance, so it rarely matters. A Tarsimental in other environs, however, must take into account this requirement.

Tarsimentals have feeble claws, but their teeth are many and sharp, they can inflict a nasty bite if they so wish. Further, their thick, interwoven layer of fur is sufficient, along with their strong epidermis, to provide a certain amount of protection against damage.

Tarsimentals communicate primarily by telepathic means, their vocal apparatus is far more developed than those of most non-simian primates, but they are unable to even approximate the range of sounds possible to a human. They do have a well-developed 'language' of gesture and pose, which incorporates such sounds as they can make. If something interrupts their telepathic connections, it is a major problem for them, but it does not leave them entirely unable to communicate, as some enemies have discovered.

Though Tarsimentals can survive for long periods out of the water, they do not find it entirely comfortable. Even females nearing birth will usually return briefly to the water for a few hours at a time to refresh themselves. They find dry, arid climates particularly hostile, their health is likely to suffer if they are long exposed to such conditions, though it will not be immediately dangerous.

Tarsimentals, native to a fairly warm, often hot, environment, also have some difficulty in deal with cold conditions. It is rare for temperatures to drop below sixty degrees Fahrenheit on Cytherea, even at the poles. Most of the time the temperature is above ninety Fahrenheit.

As a result, Tarsimentals find water temperatures below about seventy degrees Fahrenheit, or air temperatures below sixty Fahrenheit, to be very uncomfortable, and will rapidly encounter health issues if exposed to such conditions for very long. A mild temperate zone Terran winter would be a lethal nightmare of terrible cold for a Tarsimental.

Tarsimentals remain a symbiotic partner with the larger entity mentioned above, and the large majority of Tarsimentals have no interest in leaving Cytherea, or even their particular regions of the planet, preferring instead to remain in the symbiosis with the other entity. This obviates the necessity for such institutions as 'governments', because their society is dominated by and shaped around that symbiotic relationship. The closest thing to a political government to be found among the Tarsimentals are periodic meetings of their family/clan heads, dealing mostly with local matters and affairs.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

TARSIMENTALS continued...

The GURPS 3e (modified) terms, Tarsimentals have the following general stats:

IQ: 9
DX: 14
ST: 8-10
HT: 10

NOTE: These stats are slightly misleading. The average IQ of a Tarsimental is lower than the human average, but it should be kept in mind that GURPS IQ is a collective stat that incorporates many elements. A 'typical' Tarsimental is less intelligent in a raw processing sense than a typical human, but exceptions exist, there are certainly genius-level Tarsimentals, and in some areas their specialized mentalities are quite impressive by human standards.

Likewise, Tarsimentals are relatively small, about a metal long/tall, but strong for their size, their ST is only modestly less than that of humans, and in many cases it is not any lower at all than human average.

In general, a Tarsimental can be expected to have the following Advantages and Disadvantages.

ADVANTAGES:

Acute Hearing (5)
Acute Vision (5)
Alertness (2) [Alertness 3 for females with immature young]
Ambidexterity
Collected
Damage Resistance (DR 1 for fur and toughness)
Danger Sense (at +2 in their native environment)
Eidetic Memory (1)
Mathematical Ability
Night Vision
Peripheral Vision
Strong Will (2)

DISADVANTAGES:
Chummy (own species)
Curious
Reduced Hit Points (-2 to Hit Points)
Low Pain Threshold
Mute
Sleepy (1)
Slow Healing (1)
Vulnerabilities (bright sunlight, low temperatures, special)
Weak Immune System
Weaknesses (bright sunlight, low temperatures, special)

NOTE: The above lists of Advantages and Disadvantages are misleading and slightly more complicated than they appear. These creatures are mute by human standards. Their voices are very limited in the expressive ability, but their telepathic powers make them quite able to communicate easily among themselves, and with some humans.

Sleep is an issue faced by all aquatic mammals, and different species adapt to the requirements in different ways. Tarsimentals sleep by floating on the surface in groups, guarded by waking patrols of Tarsimentals.

The same conditions are listed as both weaknesses and vulnerabilities, because they are time-sensitive. A Tarsimental suffers -1 to Fatigue in air temperatures below 60 Fahrenheit and water temperatures below 70 Fahrenheit, for up to twelve Terran hours. After that, they suffer from an additional -1 to Fatigue and -1 to HT rolls until they leave the troublesome temperatures.

Below 40 degrees Fahrenheit in air, or 50 Fahrenheit in water, serious cold damage begins.

Bright sunlight is somewhat similar, giving -1 to Fatigue and -1 to all Vision and Alertness rolls for the first 12 hours, then -1 to both again and -1 to HT after 12 hours. This would be for direct bright summer sunlight on Earth.

Oddly, direct sunlight on their native world is worse for them, because Cytherea orbits an F3 star. Direct sunlight on Cytherea halves time limits and doubles penalties, but direct sunlight is rare on Cytherea because of the nigh-omnipresent cloud cover.

Note that some of the Advantages and Disadvantages above are modified by their psionic abilities, especially when they are in their home environment.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

TARSIMENTALS continued...

Tarsimentals are universally psi-active, or at least only the rarest of exceptions exist. Furthermore, their powers are more uniform than those of humans. This is a side-effect of the fact that the genetic, epigenetic and paragenetic information that governs psionic abilities was engineered by the Ancient Siccarians, tens of millennia in the past. These genes and their related information are simply more uniform than the comparable genes in humans. This uniformity has exceptions, but they are rare exceptions.

In GURPS 3w (modified) terms, all Tarsimentals have all six basic psionic Powers, and most will have each one at the same basic strength. To create a 'typical' Tarsimental, roll 2d. On a 2 or a 12, give them Power 5 or 9, respectively. On a 3 or an 11, give the individual Power 6 or Power 8, respectively. On a 4to a 10, give that individual Power 7. This creates a high bulge in the bell curve, and almost all Tarsimentals fall within that curve from Power 5 to Power 9. The few exceptions are rare enough not the matter.

All Tarsimentals have the Extended Range enhancement with their own species only, for communications only. When attempting to telepathically communicate with any other Tarsimental, treat the native Telepathy Power as being ten levels higher. Thus a Tarsimental with a Telepathy Power of 7 would normally have an average range of about 15 yard/meters. If reaching out to another Tarsimental, however, that would increase to 8 miles. This enhanced range is for communication only, all other Telepathy skills work at normal range.

However, the bioengineering of their ancestors left the Tarsimentals with another ability humans lack, an instinctive, easy talent for forming and maintaining a light power-sharing gestalt. This 'light gestalt' is weaker than a comparable human one, but can be much, much larger with minimal effort. In fact, maintain the gestalt with other Tarsimentals is so easy as to be effectively automatic, one can assume that any given Tarsimental is in 'light gestalt' with others within his or her gestalt range, which is far greater than their ordinary telepathic range.

As a thumb rule, a Tarsimental can and will form a 'light gestalt' with all the other Tarsimentals within a range of about a kilometer, and this can extend to other Tarsimentals within a kilometer of any member of that gestalt, up to numbers of several thousand members. These gestalts can be established and maintained almost by instinct, almost as casually as breathing.

Light gestalt is less powerful than full gestalt, though. The power of the gestalt, which can be tapped by any member at any given time, is equal to the power of that member (not the strongest member of the gestalt!) plus a bonus equal to the fourth root of the total of the rest, rounding down. Only Tarsimentals can be part of such light gestalts, and as a side effect of this ability, Tarsimentals can not join gestalts of any sort with any other species. Most of the time, this hardly matters, however.

EXAMPLE 1: A Tarsimental with Power 7 PK wants to draw on extra power from the gestalt. For convenience we assume that each member of the local gestalt has Power 7 (it's the most common level) and that there are 2000 members. So his boosted Power is 7 + the fourth root of the combined power of the rest of gestalt. So, 1999 other members, times Power 7, gives us a total of 13993, the fourth root of that is 10 (round down). So he can add 10 levels and raise his PK Power to 17. Instead of being able to 'barely move' one pound, he can now 'barely move' about 1000 pounds. Note that this extra power is available almost all the time, so in effect his power level is not 7 but 17, most of the time.

Note that this partly offsets some of the natural weaknesses of the Tarsimentals. For example, they naturally heal slowly, and have fewer hit points than one would expect for their HT. But they can draw on huge amounts of psionic energy from their gestalts to use in Powers like Biopsionics and skills like Healing and Metabolism Control. As a result, when in their native habitat and part of their gestalts, that actually heal amazingly quickly.

Likewise, psionic powers can offset some of their vulnerabilities to things like cold and bright sunlight, if the extra power from a large gestalt it available. It also means that there is a vast difference between the abilities of a Tarsimental in their native habitat, surrounded by other Tarsimentals, and a lone Tarsimental or very small group of such.

There are a wide range of psionic skills potentially available to Tarsimentals in their native habitat. They (as a people) don't necessarily know all the skills known to the ranks of the human psions, but the converse is also true. There are a handful of skills that would be difficult or impossible to teach across the species gap, also.

Because of the bioengineering of their ancestors, most psionic skills generally come easier to Tarsimentals than humans. As a rule, any psionic skill that is M/H for a human is M/A for a Tarsimental, anything M/VH is M/H. Special cases do exist.

Though the exact available skills will vary widely from individual to individual, almost all Tarsimentals know basic Telesend, Telereceive, Clairvoyance, Telekinesis, Healing, Metabolism Control, and PK Blast at 14 or better. Almost all Tarsimentals also know Mind Shield at a skill level of 14.

Cryokinesis and Pyrokinesis are less widely known skills, but not uncommon.

One other oddity about Tarsimentals: they appear to be Flux-blind. All known attempts by Tarsimentals to learn Flux skills have been failures. The reasons for this are not certainly known, but may have to do with the bioengineering of their ancestors. Certainly they can be affected by the Flux, both crudely and subtly. It was a Flux-effect, after all, that Awakened the species to full sapience.

To Be Continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

GOLDBUGS

TAXONOMY: Animalia DISPUTED Fidelaureus opifexus

NOTE: All taxonomic classifications below Kingdom level down the Genera level remain disputed by the Terran biological sciences community as of 2200 A.D. Though is it unquestionably an instance of Solarigen life, and clearly of the Kingdom Animalia, no consensus exists even on the proper phylum.

The Siccarian species formally classified as Fidelaureus opifexus is known by many colloquial terms to Terrans as of 2200 A.D. The most common colloquial species identifiers in common use by Terrans as of 2200 are 'Goldbug', 'Goldworm', 'Goldenrods', 'Goldworker', 'Goldballs', 'Goldswimmer', 'Shellpeople', and 'Canalbug'. This list is by no means exhaustive, but those are the terms most often used in polite conversation. [1]

In physical appearance, a Goldbug does indeed bear a superficial resemblance to an insect. This similarity is almost entirely superficial, however. The main body of the creature is oval, usually about one meter in length and about a third of that at its widest point, with four large legs extending outward, two from each side of the body. The legs are made up of two segments, meeting at a joint structure, the upper segment emerges almost laterally from the side of the body, the lower segment moves to the ground from the midpoint joint.

The oval main body is covered by a tough epidermal layer, which in term is protected by a layer of 'scales' (which are quite different from reptilian scales), being hexagonal, and composed of a naturally-formed composite substance that actually incorporates metallic molecules in its complex chain structure, providing substantial protective strength as well as a glistening 'metallic' appearance. Under most conditions of lighting, to Terran eyes this protective shell gives the creature a somewhat 'golden' appearance, though individual cases exist of colors as different as amber or blue or silver-gray.

(This is the source of the 'gold' root in most of the colloquial names and the Genera name as well.)

The hexagons do not grow as the creature does, past a certain point, and fine gaps exist between them. As the creature grows, new hexagons appear, until the creature reaches physical maturity. The fine gaps in the outer layer make the creature relatively flexible, in spite of its protective 'shell'.

The hexagonal ‘scales’ are translucent to certain frequencies, and the ‘eyes’ of the creature are behind such hexagons. These ‘eyes’ are structurally unlike the eyes of almost all other known members of the Animal Kingdom, however, and are spaced around the body of the creature, as well as above and below, giving it essentially a full sphere of vision. The eyes of a Goldbug are good at discerning fine details, and they are possessed of something approximating the color vision of a human.

The creatures lack differentiated ears. Instead, their entire skin surface acts as a sound receptor, giving them very high sensitivity to sound, but poor ability to discriminate direction or frequency. In simpler terms, they can hear far fainter sounds than any human, but are much worse at determining the nature and direction of such sound than humans. Note that this is in air at human-normal pressures and temperatures. They are more effective in the water, they can perceive even fainter sounds there, though they are still not entirely adept at determining direction or pitch.

They are equipped with a web of exquisitely sensitive chemical sensors that sample water through the gaps in their shells, in the water they can detect incredibly dilute ‘scents’, and identify a far wide range of substances than any known Terrestrial creature. In air, this ability is far less useful, but it does function somewhat, their sensitivity in air is notably less than that of canids but greater than hominids.

The mouth of the creature is located at one end of the oval main body, the organ of excretion at the opposite end. While this is not so different from other animal forms, the internal structure and nature of the digestive tract is quite unlike that of most known animal species.

The mouth is small, and lacks anything like teeth, instead a filter structure is present, analogous in function if not composition and form to the baleen of some whale species. Goldbugs feed on microscopic organisms in water, as well as near-microscopic organic material and dissolved minerals and chemicals. When in the water, a Goldbug is usually feeding, the processing is reflexive.

To be continued...


[1] By 2200, the common use of the English term 'Goldbug' is all but forgotten by everyone except specialist economic historians. The term derives from the appearance and habits of the species.

[Johnny1A.2]

GOLDBUGS continued...

Structurally, Goldbugs are not entirely like any metazoan on Earth. Most of their body mass is located in the outer layers of the main body, with a hollow interior space within. This inner volume is filled with water under modest pressure, giving the body of a Goldbug a structure somewhat akin to a balloon.

Within the water-filled inner void is a stiffening 'rod' of a material akin to cartilage, running the length of the long axis of the body. It is flexible enough to enable to creature to bend fairly easily, but stiff enough to enable it to hold its position against considerable external pressure. The 'rod' can actually very its stiffness in response to various chemical cues.

The digestive tract of the organism runs along this inner rod, spiraling around it to gain additional length. A web of flexible structures vaguely reminiscent of ligaments connects this inner rod to the inner surface of the body. Like the central rod, these structures are variably flexible.

There is no heart or equivalent organ. Instead, muscular structures in the main body regularly 'ripple' along the length, circulating blood through the walls of the internal void. Most of the vital organs of the creature are actually distributed through this outer shell, including the stem cells that originate new blood, the muscles that both circulate the blood and provide the body with its voluntary motile ability, and a very complex and sophisticated network of neural tissue that runs throughout the walls of the inner void.

At the widest point of the minor axis of the ovoid, tentacles emerge from the body. There is a large tentacle emerging on either side of the body, and a smaller one atop the creature hallway between the lateral tentacles. These tentacles are different in structure from the legs, instead of being segmented, they are hollow and contain bladder-like structures that can be flooded or drained of pressurized water from the inner body, this gives them their motility and strength, in a manner analogous to a hydraulic system.

The tentacles have no true joints as such, and are covered in a thin layer of very tough material that provides protection against punctures.

Each tentacle trifurcates at the end into a hand-like structure, with three smaller extensions that give the tentacle a reasonable ability to grip and manipulate.

At the tip of each subtentacle is a specialized sensory organ that uses a local electrical field to detect the shape and form of the surroundings of the tip. The result is a sense unlike touch or vision, but able to provide enough information to make the tentacle-tip very sensitive to its surroundings. Though this sense cannot discern color, or temperature, it is very sensitive to texture, to shape, and to composition.
Goldbugs can identify most metals, for example, simply by touching the metal with a tentacle tip.

When not in use, the tentacles can be drained of their liquid mantle, and ‘wrapped’ around the organ from which they emerge, and this can be withdrawn inside the protection of the scaled outer shell.

To be continued…

[Johnny1A.2]

ULTITARSIALS

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Tarsiumidi
Family: Tarsibrevis
Genus: Tarsimentalis
Species: tarsimentalis
Subspecies: ultitarsius (DISPUTED)

PLANET OF ORIGIN: Cytherea (EGC-3948/Aphrodite IVb)

The Ultitarsials are a subgroup of the Tarsimental species, though the classification of the Ultitarsials as a true subspecies is still disputed by the Terrestrial biological sciences community as of 2250 A.D. They are by some standards reproductively isolated from their conspecifics, but in a very peculiar way, which leads to disputes about the taxonomical classifications.

The Ultitarsials are in fact an artificially differentiated subgroup. The entire species has been subject to genetic and epigenetic and paragenetic manipulation dating back to their presapient period, but subsequent manipulations were performed on a subgroup of the species after their had Awakened to sapience. This produced a group of individuals with various enhanced abilities (hence the name 'Ultitarsial', a contraction of 'ultimate Tarsimental'), but certain specific new limitations as well.

In general, an Ultitarsial is similar to a Tarsimental, physically and mentally, for descriptions of Tarsimentals see above in the thread. Physically, an Ultitarsial has slightly enhanced physical strength and substantially improved health and vitality, and they are more resistant to cold and direct bright light than their conspecifics. Ultitarsials are slightly more dexterous than baseline Tarsimentals, with longer and more sensitive 'fingers'.

An Ultitarsial also has a roughly fifty percent longer natural, unenhanced lifespan (the average unenhanced life span for an Ultitarsial is about one hundred and fifty Terran years).

Reproductively, the Ultitarsials are flawed. The genetic and epi/paragenetic modifications that give them their enhanced abilities also make them infertile with each other. An Ultitarsial can successfully reproduce with a normal, unmodified Tarsimental, but the offspring will lack all the enhanced abilities of the Ultitarsial parent.

This would normally be an argument against classification as a separate subspecies, but matters are complicated by the instincts of the species as a whole. To put it simply, the same easy of telepathic communion and pheromonal communication, the same intense collective identity that makes the Tarsimental species what they are, means that the reengineered subgroup and the rest of the species are instinctively hostile to each other, and though they are interfertile, instead of sexual attraction there is repulsion.

To be more precise, the unaltered 'baseline' Tarsimentals are instinctively and viscerally repelled by the Ultitarsials, at a level well below conscious thought. Intellectually they can recognize this as an irrational aversion, but that does not make the aversion vanish. It would be a rare Tarsimental indeed who would willingly mate with an Ultitarsial.

The Ultitarsials do not share in this revulsion, they lack this instinctive visceral revulsion. However, even if there was a Tarsimental willing to mate with an Ultitarsial, another consideration applies: because the offspring would be a 'baseline' Tarsimental, most Ultitarsials are reluctant to engage in sexual reproduction with a normal Tarsimental, even if such an opportunity might arise.

Between these two strong motives not to reproduce lies the partial reproductive isolation that lead most Terran taxonomists to consider the Ultitarsials a separate subspecies of the species Tarsimentalis tarsimentalis.

(In the event, the Ultitarsials primarily reproduce by artificial means, specifically cloning. In fact, they are a race of clones from their very beginning, as part of an artificial genetic engineering project.)

Along with the physical enhancements, which are relatively minor, the Ultitarsials also benefit from certain mental and psionic benefits. These were the primary purpose of the genegineering project, the physical enhancements were a relatively minor side issue.

As noted above, Ultitarsials average more intelligent than the baseline of the species, and their psionic abilities, though individually comparable to those of their conspecifics, are substantially enhanced in their gestalt aspect. Because of the modifications, and the similarity of the cloned individuals mentally and physically, they can create a superior form of the 'light gestalt' that is common to the Tarsimental race. They retain the ability to form the large, expansive gestalts, but their gestalts are more potent in both raw power and a unique amplification of psionic skill as well.

An Ultitarsial can form a gestalt with baseline Tarsimentals (though few of the latter will tolerate such close union with the altered Ultitarsials), but if they do so it will have only the normal properties of such 'light gestalts'. Like their baseline conspecifics, Ultitarsials can not form gestalts with other species, nor do they have any measurable affinity for or connection to the Matrix/Flux.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

ULTITARSIALS continued...

In GURPS modified 3e terms, Ultitarsials have the following stats:

IQ: 11
DX: 15
ST: 10
HT: 12

Average length: Approximately one meter.
Average mass: 35 kilograms in adults.

The vulnerabilities of the Ultitarsials to bright light and cold are similar to those of baseline Tarsimentals, but the 'grace period' against each is about fifty percent longer.

ADVANTAGES:

Acute Hearing (5)
Acute Vision (5)
Alertness (2) [Alertness 3 for females with immature young]
Ambidexterity
Collected
Damage Resistance (DR 1 for fur and toughness)
Danger Sense (at +2 in their native environment)
Eidetic Memory (1)
Mathematical Ability
Night Vision
Peripheral Vision
Strong Will (2)

DISADVANTAGES:
Chummy (own species)
Curious
Reduced Hit Points (-2 to Hit Points)
Low Pain Threshold
Mute
Limited Reproduction (cloning only (rare exceptions))
Sleepy (1)
Slow Healing (1)
Vulnerabilities (bright sunlight, low temperatures, special)
Weak Immune System
Weaknesses (bright sunlight, low temperatures, special)

The psionic faculties of Ultitarsials are very uniform. As a race of clones, their native power is almost always Power 8 in all six abilities. Almost all also have a specific PK range of about 15 yards/meters per level, or a total of about 105 yards/meters. Call it 330 feet.

The primary differences in the special gestalt, as compared to baseline Tarsimentals, is threefold. The gestalts formed by Ultitarsials with each other have greater raw power, they endow an enhancement of skill, and for some Powers they also endow enhanced range.

The Power of an Ultitarsial 'special' gestalt is the power of the particular Ultitarsial drawing on its strength, plus a bonus equal to the cube root of the total additional Power, as opposed to a normal Tarsimental gestalt, which has a Power determined by the fourth root of the total. (Actually, to be nit picky, it's the 1/2.941 root, for reasons too arcane to go into.)

Though this is still less intense than a normal human psionic gestalt, the Ultitarsials retain the easy, casual ability of their species to form gestalts of enormous size, over wide separations of distance, and to maintain such almost constantly, without expenditure of effort or unpleasant side effects.

Unlike any other gestalt known, an Ultitarsial gestalt also enhances skill. Any Ultitarsial gestalt with at least 5 members (including the one actually tapping the power) endows the user with a +1 bonus on all psionic skills. For every factor of 5 increase in the size of the gestalt, an additional +1 skill bonus follows.

A final unique benefit of an Ultitarsial gestalt is an increase in range for Psychokinesis. Divide the total number of Ultitarsials in the gestalt by ten, and multiply the range in meters/yards of the specific Ultitarsial by that amount, rounding down, whenever using Psychokinesis.

EXAMPLE 1: An Ultitarsial gestalt contains 100 members. One of the members draws upon the combined Power to enhance his Telepathy. Since all Ultitarsials, for practical purposes, have Power 8 in all abilities, we can calculate the enhancement easily. To his own basic Telepathy Power of 8, we add the cube root of the combined power of the rest of the gestalt.

So, 99 other members, times Power 8 for each, gives us a total additional Power of 792. The cube root of 792, rounding down, gives us 9. So our example can add 9 levels of his own Power of 8, giving him Power 17. This increases his range from roughly 100 feet to 8 miles, as well as giving him more brute force if he wants it.

Also, because his gestalt has 100 members, he gets a skill bonus. Five times five is 25, times five is 125. The gestalt only has 100 members, so our subjects gets a +2 bonus to his skill with whatever Telepathic skill he tries to use, along with the boosted raw strength.

So our example subject goes from a Telepathy range of 100 feet and a Telereceive skill of 12, to a range of 2 miles and a Telereceive skill of 14. These are very substantial increases!

So if he normally has, say, Telereceive at a skill of 12, now he has it 14.

To get a +3 skill bonus, the gestalt would need to have 125 members. To get a +4, it would need 625 members, and so on, each factor of 5 increase adding a level to all known skills.

EXAMPLE 2: Our example case has Power 8 PK and a skill of 12 in Telekinesis. In the same 100 member gestalt, he gets the same Power boost of +9 and the skill boost of +2, as described in Example 1. But he also gets an additional increase in range for PK only, as a special case.

As usual with PK, range increases linearly with Power. So 9 levels of extra PK Power increases his range by (9 * 15 yards/meters), call it 800 feet for a nice round number (Power 15 PK, 15 levels times 15 yards/meters per level).

However, there is an additional boost to range in such Ultitarsial gestalts, for PK alone. Divide the number of members by 10, round down, and multiply the range by that result. So 100, members, divided by 10, gives us 10. So instead of 800 feet, his range is 8000 feet, or well over a mile.

These extra benefits, combined with the size of the gestalts that Ultitarsials can easily form and sustain, mean that a large group of these creatures can easily martial very substantial amounts of raw power and use it at a very high level of skill, and in the case of PK, at extremely enhanced range. Note also that 100 is by no means the limit to size: 1000 member Ultitarsial gestalts have been recorded, larger ones are theoretically possible.

Note that the peculiar nature of these Ultitarsial (and Tarsimental) gestalts does mean that they are resistant to further amplification by such devices as mechanical psionic amplifiers. An individual Ultitarsial or Tarsimental can use such devices normally, but not in conjunction with the enhanced gestalts their species can produce. It is an either/or choice.

Psi-drugs, on the other hand, can be used in conjunction with these gestalts, at the risk of complicated and unpredictable side-effects. This can be offset by designed psi-drugs specifically for their metabolisms, but this requires knowledge not widely available.) Generally, successful use of psi-drugs in Ultitarsial gestalts requires that all members of the gestalt be utilizing the drug, in similar dosages.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

FRIPS

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Proboscidea
Suborder: Superaprobosica
Family: Sicarrisprobosicisia
Genus: Siccarisprobodimini
Species: transisiccariprob
Subspecies: Too many to list

FRIPS:
IQ: 4
DX: 14
ST: 1
HT: 13/2-3

PSIONIC ABILITIES:
Telepathy Power 10 with Extended Range: Global when communicating with the Replimentals or other 'components' of the Siccarian artificial ecosystem.

The planet Siccaria is unusual for a Solarigen world, because it has no local insects, and indeed the entire Arthropoda are sparsely represented, other than the Crustacea, all confined to the water (which is scarce on modern Siccaria).

In the absence of the insects, other creatures have evolved to fill those niches usually occupied by various species of insect. The frips are a particular species that serves such a function. The frips are the result of both natural evolutionary pressures and extensive artificial genetic modifications (which is much of why so very many mostly reproductively isolated subspecies exist).

Frips are small, flying mammals, fur-covered and bearing a superficial resemblance to bats, but they are in fact more nearly akin to the elephants and manatees of Earth. They bear little physical resemblance to their Terrestrial cousins, but a close examination by a zoologist will reveal many parallels and kinships to both the elephants and the manatees, and a genetic analysis will reveal further links.

Frips range in size from a length of about fifteen centimeters and a mass of a kilogram, down to subspecies barely larger three centimeters and no more than four grams in mass. All are fur-covered, and all vaguely resemble bats.

Unlike Terrestrial bats, however, frips possess manipulative paws with considerably dexterity, if relatively little strength. They can and do pick up objects and carry them in flight, though they are heavily mass-limited, especially the smaller subspecies. Also, unlike bats, they possess little in the way of teeth, except for the largest subspecies.

The frips fill the 'pollinating flier' niche in the heavily modified Siccarian ecosystem, and like some of the insects that fill those roles on other planets, most of the frip subspecies live on liquids derived from the plants and creatures they help to reproduce. Along with that source, there are also some artificial sources of these suger-heavy fluids in the Siccarian ecosystem.

The high-energy food consumed by the smaller frips enables them to perform feats of flight bats can not duplicate. Frips can not hover in place in the manner of a hummingbird, but they can fly in very tight circles for long periods, when this is required of them. They can also fly at remarkably fast speeds for creatures of such small size.

The largest frips, unlikely their smaller cousins, also consume some small prey creatures, and unlike their cousins do have some substantial teeth. One common prey of the largest frip subspecies is a shallow-water shrimp, another is a set of species of tiny amphibians. They also feed on the sugar-syrup liquids favored by their cousins, but their size requires more in the way of fuel than the smaller creatures require.

All subspecies of frips are genetically modified for life in a harsh desert environment, though their environment also includes lush oases and canal valleys. All frips have modified kidneys that retain water very efficiently, all frips have modified eyes that are highly resistant to UV radiation, and all frips are either normally nocturnal, or mostly nocturnal, though none are actually harmed by sunlight as such, and all can function by day if need be.

All frips are also genetically engineered to be highly susceptible to control by and interaction through telepathic effects. Frips can be directed to modify their behavior fairly easily by telepathic means, if the telepath in question knows how to go about this, and the 'passcodes' encoded into the frip genes.

Some Terrestrial taxonomists argue that the different frip subspecies should be classified as separate species, because they are almost totally reproductively isolated. On the other hand, all are interfertile when they do mate, producing hybrids with predictable traits, and they do cross-breed under known and predictable conditions, as a result of the genetic engineering that gave rise to the separate subspecies.

Frips are not particularly dangerous to humanoids, as such. Except for the largest subspecies, they have ineffectual bites, and their claws are feeble. They can, however, be used to efficiently track humanoids, by those who know how to control and use the creatures.



To be continued...