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

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

In their basic appearance, the 'typical' H. sapiens atlanticus is somewhat taller
than the mainline of the Terran sapiens population. The males average
between 6'4" and 6'6", the females between 5'9" and 6'2". The average
build tends toward athletic and muscular, the Cyllellian culture puts a mild
premium on physical fitness and this is emphasized from an early age, with
extensive opportunities to act upon it.

The limited genetic pool reduces the range of physical appearance compared
to the mainline of Homo sapiens. The large majority of atlanticus
are either light blonde or (rarely) very dark haired, with green eyes being the
most common eye color, blue the second most common. Skin tones tend toward
Scandinavian-pale. (Anyone familiar with the subspecies gets a +2 to recognize
an atlanticus on an IQ roll, they have a distinctive ‘look’ that is common to
most of the subspecies.)

(Note also that their notable resemblance to the ‘Nazi physical ideal’ is not in
any sense coincidental, though the nature of that connection that will be revealed
at a later time. Note that there was a high proportion of redheads amid the old
original Atlantean population, but by chance there were few among the group of
survivors that became the ancestral base of the Cyllellian population.)

The atlanticus life-cycle is quite similar, albeit rather longer, to that of the
‘mainline’ sapiens of Earth. Their childhood is comparable to mainline,
with full physical maturity occurring, typically, around age twenty. Typically
‘psychic maturity’ comes somewhat later, with full psionic strength being
achieved around the age of forty in most individuals. At that point the process
of aging slows naturally, with the first signs of aging setting in around one
hundred and fifty, and a typical lifespan running slightly over two hundred ten.

(Females tend to live slightly longer, as with mainline H. sapiens. The
‘typical’ female atlanticus will have a lifespan of about two hundred and
thirty, again disregarding psionic enhancement.)

It should be noted that this lifespan is native to the subspecies, it can be
and it usually is somewhat extended by means of psionic power. As with their
Atlantean ancestors, psionic strength and skill are major status markers, and
the ability to extend one’s own lifespan carries a great deal of status in itself.

Genetically speaking, Homo sapiens atlanticus is completely fertile with each
other. In practice, though, for cultural and psychological reasons, atlanticus
tends to have a modest female fertility rate. This is partly because the Cyllellian
culture was shaped by the fact that the islands on which they live are of finite size
and resources, leading to a limited carrying capacity. The practical fertility rate
is about two point one, the ‘maintenance level’, but the majority of atlanticus
children are part of families produced by a limited subset of the female population. [1]

MORE LATER.


[1] Which in turn contributes to the diversity problem.

[Johnny1A.2]

RYSHYL

Ryshyl is an Anglicization of an Atlantean word, referring to a psi drug
the Atlanteans derived from several natural sources. Sometimes referred
to as 'ryshyl herb', the drug is in fact a synthesis of several herbs and fungi,
which grew in Atlantis and elsewhere. Most of the ingredients of ryshyl
are in fact relatively common in the north temperate zone of Earth, though
they don't always grow conveniently close together, and some of them are
highly seasonal (and not all the same season for harvest).

Someone with the appropriate foraging skills can locate those ingredients
that grow in a given season fairly readily in the north temperate zone,
usually enough can be gathered to brew one dose after about one to six
hours of searching, though this can vary considerably depending on local
conditions. Since not all the necessary ingredients are available for harvest
at the same time, the ingredients must either be safely stored until ready
for use or else the drug can only be brewed at certain times of the year.

The fungal ingredients of ryshyl are actually easier to deal with, because
the three different sorts of mushroom that go into the drug can be dried
out and powdered and will retain their potency for a year or more if stored
in a cool dry and very dark place. Several different herbs also go into the
mixture, however, and these do not store well, so absent either proper
technological and/or psionic storage means, ryshyl is usually brewed in
late summer or early autumn, when the necessary herbs are available and
usefully fresh. [1]

The actual brewing process is time-consuming and requires a good deal
of skill and knowledge, outside a laboratory it takes a full day of labor
once the ingredients are assembled, and because the fungal ingredients
are susceptible to bright light (inducing chemical changes that will ruin
the end product), it has to be done in dim light (candle-light intensities for
practical purposes). The mixture must be mixed in the proper order and
proportions, at the right temperature with the right amount of moisture,
even very slight mistakes can ruin the mix with dangerous consequences.

The finished drug is a thin red-gold liquid, almost tasteless, a dose is an
ounce or so ingested. If the drug is properly prepared, it will take effect
in 1D6 + HT minutes, and the effects will last 3D6 hours.

A danger exists, because one of the mushrooms used in the drug is deadly
in its natural state, the preparation process and the other ingredients
neutralize the poison, if everything is done right. If not, the subject will
experience an agonizing reaction that will last 1D6 hours (minimum two
hours), and every hour requires a roll vs. HT at -6, failure resulting in death.
If the subject survives s/he will be weak and disoriented (-3 to all rolls) for
several days. [2]

If the drug is properly prepared, it has some very useful effects. All psionic
abilities increase by two levels of Power for the duration of the drug, with
no skill penalties. Psychic endurance also increases, in effect the user gains
1D6 'free' Fatigue points usable for psionic activity only.

Ryshyl also confers a couple of secondary benefits, it stimulates the nervous
system in such as way that the user either gains the Alertness advantage,
or gains an extra level of it if s/he already had it, and the drug suppresses
the need to sleep for the duration of its effects, with none of the immediate
negative effects one would expect from this. (Long term negative effects are
another issue, however, that can become important with overuse.)

The drug, if properly prepared, is actually fairly safe, and confers
useful benefits. The reason it is not more widely used is threefold:
first the chance of a badly prepared dose and the high consequent risk
of death, second it tends to make the user jittery and shaky (-1 to
DX) while the drug is working, and the user experiences hot and cold
flashes and other physical discomforts that can be distracting, and of
course the problem of addiction.

Ryshyl generates a tremendous 'high' that lasts throughout the duration of
the drug effects, and which intensifies when psi power is actually used.
It is not physically addictive but it is very psychologically addictive,
often producing dependency on the first dose. All attempts to 'get clean'
from ryshyl are at -4, and use of psionic power increases the cravings even
when the drug is not currently in the body of the user.

A ryshyl addict in the throes of withdrawal must roll vs. Will at -6 every
time s/he has a chance to use the drug, any failure resulting in a berserk
determination to have the drug at any cost.

Perhaps fortunately, the 'recipe' for ryshyl is held by very few people after
the Downfall of Atlantis. [3]

Ryshyl has a few other properties and drawbacks.

First of all, it interacts with epilepsy in rather dangerous ways, any
epileptic who ingests a dose of ryshyl risks an immediate seizure (roll vs.
HT, seizure on any result but critical success), and if this occurs any
psionic powers the epileptic might possess immediately manifest and go
out of control for the duration of the seizure, this can be extremely
dangerous if the subject has high levels of power.

Ryshyl combines badly with many other drugs, including alcohol, the
interactions are unpredictable.

MORE LATER.


[1] In a high-tech setting, the ingredients can be preserved for long
periods (weeks to months) by refrigeration, the Atlanteans used
cryokinesis for the same end.

[2] Ryshyl users tend to be very picky about who they trust as
suppliers.

[3] The key word being 'few', not 'none'.

To Be Continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

RYSHYL continued...

The long-term negative effects of ryshyl use can be much more serious than the
relatively minor short-term negatives.

The begin with, the psychological addiction associated with ryshyl is unusual, as
such things go (because of the peculiar neuroactive properties of the drug). The
addiction can go into a state of ‘remission’ with long non-use, and in such case
the craving tends to fade away to the point that resistance is fairly easy, far more
so than with most psychologically addictive substances. However, the craving
returns with any use of the drug, and must be neutralized again by long non-use.

With each ‘relapse’ (for whatever reason), the user risks a neurochemical shift of
permanent nature, eliminating the benign ‘repose’ period of the addition, leaving
the addict with a relatively permanent craving.

Further, long-term use of ryshyl can produce subtle biochemical changes in the
body, with serious negative consequences. Over time, these effects can build
up and result in such effects as increased risks of cancer, stroke, or the onset of
epilepsy, as well as neurochemical damage that can reduce the efficiency of the
central nervous system and its associated sensory nerves.

In GURPS 3e terms, any time a ryshyl addict relapses (i.e. uses the drug), s/he
must roll 3d. On a critical failure, the user rolls 3d again, on any failure of the
second roll, the addiction becomes permanent. After that, the user must resist
with a Will roll at -6 or use the drug at any time it becomes available. Also,
the user loses the Alertness Advantage, if s/he had it, and becomes permanently
jittery/nervous (-1 on DX rolls and -1 on IQ rolls for tasks requiring concentration
or detailed attention).

For each ‘relapse’ in a 30 day period, the user must roll again, at -1 to the first
roll each time. After 30 consecutive days without use, this ‘resets’.

After permanent addiction sets in, any use of psionic powers (under the drug or
not) requires a roll of 3d, on a critical failure the powers ‘run wild’ for 3d turns.

After ten years of use, (meaning at least one use every year for ten years), further
use puts a -1 on all HT rolls in general for each five years of use, and each year
the character must roll 3d, on any failure s/he develops a cancer of some vital
organ, or else suffers a serious stroke. Only a complete cessation of use will end
this effect (though it will not cure any cancer or other effect already suffered).

Especially heavy use (many doses per year over ten years) at the GM’s discretion
should put heavy penalties on the HT rolls. Over time, ryshyl seriously degrades
the health and well-being of a user.

Note that at high tech levels, methods might be found to offset some of these risks
to make use of the drug somewhat safer.

[Johnny1A.2]

THE BIRTHING PODS...

On the Prime Island of the Cyllellian Archipelago there is a very unusual organism to
be found. This odd entity might be called a plant-form, for lack of a better word,
but in fact this creature has been extensively altered by the Eldren, and the proper
taxonomical classification of this organism would be a highly debatable matter. It
should be noted that this creature is not absolutely unique, it does have some
kindred life forms derived from similarly artificial changes, but we shall learn more
about those entities at a later date. [1]

This organism exists in the extensive cave networks under the central hill region of
the inner island of Prime Cyllellia. It incorporates genetic material (and some of
the corresponding biological features) from the plant, animal, and fungal kingdoms,
and is also served by extensive symbiotic relations from a variety of microorganisms,
include symbiotes from of eukaryotic, prokaryotic, and archean nature.

This entity came to be as a result of manipulation on the part of the Familiar Eldren,
and especially the Watcher itself. Recall that the Familiar Eldren created ‘Avatars’
to serve as their ambassadors, eyes, ears, and hands in the world while they are all
trapped in a half-conscious, half-aware stasis. [2]

The process of creating these artificial people had always been somewhat haphazard,
but in its moments of passing half-lucidity, the vast intellect of the Watcher had been
working out a superior method of creating these living sapient tools. When the
Great Cataclysm gave a momentary respite in the Edict forbidding the free Familiar
Eldren from acting on or near Earth, the Watcher assigned some of its followers the
task of implementing the project, (along with certain others) and this was done on the
inner island of the Prime Island of the Cyllellian Archipelago.

The inner hills near the center of the interior island are riddled with extensive caves
and caverns, which look superficially natural, except that the tunnels and caves are in
igneous rock. Within the caves, running back and forth throughout them, is the odd
engineered ‘plant-organism’, the roots reach down into the flooded tunnels below the
central island, the ‘foliage’ that covers the central hills is actually the above-ground
extensions of a single plant, marked by leaves of a very dark shade of green for very
efficient photosynthesis. This organism requires a great deal of energy.

Within an underground chamber in the central hill is that aspect of the plant for which
it was brought into being, the ‘birthing pods’.

These are vegetative bodies, linked to the rest of the plant by thick ‘tendrils’ through
which nutrients and wastes can be circulated. Each ‘pod’ is about three meters long
and two meters across, and within one a new Avatar can be grown efficiently and very
quickly, compared to the haphazard older methods. The process can be triggered by
any Familiar Eldren who wishes to create one or more Avatars (not all the trapped
Eldren do so wish), and also they can be used to create ‘Avatars’ who do not
carry a ‘rider within’ in the same way that Zadatharion and Aradel do. [3

These birth pods can also be used to create certain other ‘artificial’ organisms, at the
discretion of any Familiar Eldren who has a ‘template’ for such an entity. Designing
and preparing such templates is not trivial given the mental states of the trapped
Eldren, however, and only a few such ‘templates’ have ever been created.

The caves and caverns under the central hills are accessible to the inhabitants of the
Archipelago, especially to the Avatars who dwell there, but attempts to damage or
interfere with the workings of this organism are extremely dangerous, because it can
defend itself, and it will if need be. The ‘plant’ has a central nervous system along
animal lines, and possesses a dim self-awareness and a strong survival imperative.

Among the defenses of this generating plant are acidic and alkalic secretions, which
can be produced by almost any exposed surface with a few moments of time. The
plant is ‘intelligent’ enough to select which solution would be most effective against
a given attacker, and equipped with physical and psionic senses to enable it to make
the determination of which biochemical weapon would be most effective. Given the
time, it can ‘adapt’ the formulation of its secretions for greater effectiveness against
a given attacker, producing both corrosive and poisonous effects. [4]

The organism can also generate a bioelectric charge, generated at a very low level
continuously and stored in special tissues, the discharge is nearly instantaneous and
can be directed from any exposed surface, this will drain the local ‘batteries’ for a time,
but can be quite effective against unprotected targets (including some machines).

TO BE CONTINUED...


[1] For information about the Cyllellian Archipelago see here: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=70674

[2] For information about the nature of the Avatars see: http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread...=avatar&page=2

[3 The term ‘Avatar’ is still colloquially used to describe such beings.

[4] For GURPS purposes, a normal human exposed to the acid/alkali
solution would take 1d corrosion damage in the first turn, 2d in the
second turn of exposure, 3d for each continuing turn. The substance is also
chemically poisonous, doing 1d damage after an exposure, with serious
convulsions and paralysis/death on a failed HT roll. Each 2 turns of contact
counts as an additional ‘exposure’.

[Johnny1A.2]

THE BIRTHING PODS continued...

The ‘plant’ is protected by a very powerful Flux manifestation that is self-renewing,
drawing on a Flux ‘program’ stored in the central nervous system of the plant. This
has the effect of a constant field of ‘psychic interference’ enveloping the entire ‘plant’
and the surroundings, including all of the caverns, and a radius of the surface and air
overhead out to about eight hundred meters. This effect interferes with all use of Flux
and psionic ability within its field of effect other than that of the plant-thing itself. It
is very precisely tuned to permit the entity to make use of its own psionic abilities. [1]

The ‘plant’ has a basic but very strong psionic talent engineered into it by its Eldren
creators, it has telepathic and psychokinetic powers, though not enough innate
consciousness to do more than a handful of things with them. These abilities are used
through some basic ‘psionic skills’ preprogrammed into the central nervous system
of the creature, primarily for purposes of the self-defense. [2]

This plant has no reproductive abilities, it is not engineered for that. It can, however,
regenerate damage with extreme efficiency, and could theoretically grow back to full
capacity as long as at least five perfect of the original organism remained alive. [3]

Note that this artificial entity is primarily controlled by various Familiar Eldren, it
does have some self-consciousness or at least some mentality, but fundamentally it is
an extension of the mind and will of the trapped Familiar Eldren, and serves as a tool
of those ancient entities. It will, however, obey some of the commands of the ruling
Avatars of Cyllellia, within the limits of its comprehension and higher priorities.

Note that the creature also has a telepathic ability to attack living minds over quite a
considerable range, making it a key element of the defenses of Cyllellia.

To Be Continued...


[1] Treat this Flux manifestation as a zone of Antipsionic psi static with an effective
Power of 50 and a skill of 15, but confined the sphere around the plant.

[2] Power 30 Psychokinesis, Power 15 Telepathy, psi skills Telekinesis-15 and also
Telepathy-15. It uses the PK to inflict crushing damage on attackers, the Telepathy
to generate what amount to mental bolts. These have Extended Range, able to hit
at ½ damage over a distance of about 50 kilometers in any direction, normal damage
in a four-kilometer radius, or quintuple damage within ½ kilometer.

[3] Assume the plant, if reduced to the 5% minimum, would recover to
full size and capacity in 10d years.

[Johnny1A.2]

SYMAX

The creature colloquially called a 'symax' is native to the planet Cytherea (EGC-3948/Aphrodite IVa), and is one of the two native monotreme species of that planet, as well as the sole known member of its Genus. Some taxonomists argue that it should also be in a Family of its own, the matter remains hotly debated by 22nd Century taxonomists.

In appearance, a symax is a fur-covered tetrapod, bearing a vague resemblance to a large bat. It is in fact a flying mammal, but more nearly related to the Terran platypus or echidnas than the Chiroptera. They are extremely flexible, with membranous wings stretching between their fore and hind limbs (giving them also a vague visual resemblance to a 'flying squirrel').

Male symax run about fifty-sixty centimeters in length, females about forty to sixty centimeters in length. Weight runs about 750-1000 grams. Their fur is extremely thick and a resistant to water. The membranes that serve as wings are also supplied with extensive blood vessels, enabling them to act as 'cooling vanes' for the creatures in their native habitat.

Though the species itself is native to Cytherea, most of its evolutionary development occurred elsewhere. Their evolutionary line traces back to Earth in the early Cenozoic, when their ancestors were transferred by the Eldren to a planet in Region 384. Their line differentiated extensively into several families over the course of megayears, including the Frigipelagia.

The Frigipelagia were adapted to an oceanic life, and as their name suggests were cluster of species that specialized in cold water and (relatively) deep diving niches. Over thirty species in six Genera existed at the time that the Eldren, for reasons of their own, transplanted breeding stock of several of them to Cytherea, where the majority of them rapidly became locally extinct (their cousins on the other planet remained).

This was not surprising, because most of Cytherea was far different than the environments for which the Frigipelagia were adapted. They were variously adapted to cold climates and deep salt-water diving, with thick water-resistant fur and high basal metabolic rates. Most of Cytherea was marked by conditions that a Terran would call tropical to super-tropical, highly humid, with temperature ranges rarely dropping below 80 F.

Of the breeding stock of the seven species of Frigipelagia transplanted by the Eldren to Cytherea, only two survived. One of them managed to take to the air, becoming the single-species Genus of the Parafrigipelagia. Remarkably, they managed to turn their cold-ocean to a successful aerial life in a tropical environment, over the course of a relatively short time (as evolutionary time scales go), and even to spread through several biomes of Cytherea, dividing into several interfertile subspecies.

The membranes that had helped their ancestors steer themselves in the water evolved into first a gliding membrane, then a flying surface. Their body mass fell and they became smaller, their fur retained its water resistance but also became lighter. They took to the trees (and equivalent plant and fungal form) and became insectivores and frugivores.

The venom that their ancestors had used to prey on oceanic life forms now became a defensive tool against other predators. They retained the echolocation their ancestors had used in the water, adapting it over the generations into a aerial sense superior to that of most bats.

Taxonomists would tag them Parafrigipelagia, because of the paradoxical way their cold/oceanic adaptations proved amenable to aerial/dry land existence in a tropical-type environment.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

Symax continued...

Over the course of several tens of millions of Terran years, the Parafrigipelagia spread through various niches, adapting into several closely related species, all of which had gone extinct by the time Man came to Cytherea, other than the single species Parafrigipelagia symax .

This species was very successful, subdividing into several interfertile but reproductively semi-isolated subspecies occupying niches on every continent of Cytherea other than the equatorial land masses, which were simply too hot for even the highly adapted Parafrigipelagia symax.

In common with much of the life of Cytherea, psionic phenomena played a major role in their adaptations. [1]

In the case of Parafrigipelagia symax, the adaptation was the development of a specialized psionic ability, not categorizable under the usual list of abilities. The Parafrigipelagia symax developed the ability to store and transfer psychic energies with their conspecifics, usually in part of a 'swarm' or family grouping. Oddly enough, they gained no direct benefit from this adaptation. Rather, the stored psychic potential enabled them to play a role in the larger 'psychic ecosystem' of the Cytherean biosphere, 'in exchange' for benefits gained from other species.

(This might be loosely compared to the way insects 'trade' reproductive assistance for nutrients from some plants, or similar coevolved relationships.)

The wild Parafrigipelagia symax provided the core breeding stock for the artificially modified subspecies, Parafrigipelagia symax neosymax. It is Parafrigipelagia symax neosymax that is 'the' Symax.

The natural Parafrigipelagia symax proved to be a viable source stock for the creation of a type of psionic catalytic creature. A combination of genetic engineering, selective breeding, and psionic and Flux-based techniques were used to produce a highly specialized and artificially adapted subspecies of Parafrigipelagia symax, which Terran taxonomists would one day categorize as Parafrigipelagia symax neosymax.

It was their natural ability to 'store' psychic energy that made them attractive to the bioengineers, and they artificially adapted this ability to give their new subspecies the ability to share the stored psychic energy not just with their own conspecifics but with appropriately trained and bonded Homosapients.

To be continued...


[1] The reason for this is too complicated to go into, but involves the history of Cytherea as a global biosphere.

[Johnny1A.2]

SYMAX continued...

A Symax begins life at hatching, as part of a cluster of eggs laid by a female. The hatched cluster becomes a 'swarm' of Symax. The males will remain part of that cluster for life, the females will 'mate out' to other swarms upon reaching sexual maturity, and other females will 'mate in' to the swarm. A typical neosymax can expect to live for about fifty-sixty years, though exceptional cases exist of Symax living over a Terran century. [1]

The mother will care for the swarm for a period of about three to four Terran years, with the assistance of the other members of her own swarm. Sexual maturity comes after around four Terran years, and most young female Symax will mate with males in other, unrelated swarms and form life-long pair bonds, mating once few Cytherean years. The eggs come about six Terran weeks later, hatching requires another three to four weeks, depending on circumstances. Most mature females will produce between four and twelve eggs per mating.

Generally, a swarm has only a few of its member females mate in any given years, alternating from year to year. A small swarm might have only one pregnant female in a given season, a large swarm might have several, but generally no more than one female in four in a swarm mates in a given year.
Swarms organize along the male line of descent, and can endure as groupings over the course of many generations.

Symax are an artificial subspecies, and generally raised in captivity. 'Wild' neosymax are viable, but a danger exists in that they are cross-fertile with fallow Parafrigipelagia symax, but the offspring of such matings always tend to lose the special abilities and traits that define the subspecies. Thus, absent artificial intervention, there is a natural tendency for Parafrigipelagia symax neosymax to fade away into the baseline population. Thus the vast majority of Symax are hatched and raised in captivity, raised for use by Homosapients.

The utility of Symax for psions is straightforward. A swarm of Symax (they always bond as swarms, not individuals) can psi-bond to a Homosapient psion, providing a large reservoir of psychic energy available for psionic use. This pool of energy from the swarm can be tapped and converted into psionic energy by the Homosapient, adding strength, endurance, range, and intensity to the psionic abilities.

Other benefits also exist. The telepathic link between the Homosapient and the swarm enables the swarm to serve as a set of extra eyes and ears, a source of information, and in emergencies as backup in combat. The teeth and claws of Symax are not especially long, but they are very sharp and strong. A swarm of Symax can inflict considerable damage on an unarmored foe fairly quickly if they attack as a group.

A swarm must be bonded to one single psion, and a psion can be bonded to only one swarm. That swarm can grow in size after the bond forms, however, making the swarm more potent, physically and psychically.

If the Homosapient dies, a swarm is sometimes able to bond with another psion, but this is never a certain outcome. Since the swarm bonds as a swarm, it can exist potentially indefinitely, no matter how long the psion who is their bond-partner lives.

To be continued...



[1] Recall that Symax are monotremes, egg-laying mammals.

[Johnny1A.2]

SYMAX continued...

A swarm of Symax that has been raised in captivity and successfully bonded to a psion can transfer psychic energy to the psion, for his or her own use. The range of the connection is somewhat limited, however.

Symax, both 'wild' and neosymax, are strongly telepathic with other members of their own swarms, and mildly so with other Symax. An individual Symax removed from its swarm loses connection, and can function as a 'loner', but will instinctively attempt to return to its own swarm, which is can sense from some distance and recognize both telepathically and by pheromonal cues.
Generally, a Symax can maintain its mental connection (which amounts to s sort of gestalt state) with the rest of its swarm over a range that increases as the number of members of the swarm increase.

Because of the close mental contact between members of a swarm, such a group of Symax act as if they were more intelligent than they individually are, and the coordination of the group can give the impression that the swarm has a mentality of its own, which is not quite true. The close mental union among the members can make a swarm the practical equivalent of a single mind for many purposes, however. They seek food as a group, court mates as a group, attack and defend as a group, and with a high degree of coordination.

Symax have a natural venom, which they can administer via grooved channels on their foreclaws. This venom is modestly potent and only applied when the Symax so wishes, they can scratch without inflicting the toxin if they so wish, and often do so, reserving the limited supply of the toxin (to which they are themselves immune) for pressing needs.

Symax care for sick and injured swarm members, and for elderly members as well. A swarm will only abandon its weak members under extreme circumstances, and some swarms have been known to fight to the death of the entire group rather than do so. The one common exception is that a swarm will flee with the immature young if absolutely necessary for the group to survive.

The smallest viable Symax swarm tends to be about six members, with at least one male. The largest symax swarms on record numbered over one hundred, but such swarms are very rare in captivity and even less common in the wild, for a number of reasons.

A female Symax will not mate with males of her own original swarm (since they are close genetic relatives), and if no other swarms are available will remain with the home swarm and unmated. In captivity, this is sometimes encouraged to make a bonded swarm 'stronger' for psionic purposes, since it has more members.

GURPS Data:

TAXONOMY: Solarigensis Terragensis Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Mammalia Monotremata Frigipelagia Parafrigipelagia symax neosymax.

IQ: 4 DX: 12-14 ST: 2-3 HT: 13/3-5

Flux Points: 1d6

Speed-Dodge: 12/6

PD/DR: 0/0

Damage: 1d-2 biting damage, 1d-3 slicing claws (venomous)

Natural Psionic Abilities: Power Boost, Telepathy Power 7

In GURPS terms, a bonded swarm of Symax has two basic psionic abilities, Telepathy Power 7 in general, but with Extended Range when dealing with their own swarm members, and Power Boost.

Their Telepathy range is extended by 50-70% for every doubling of numbers in the swarm, with 6 being considered the base. Thus a 6-Syman swarm could maintain its mental union over a distance about fifteen meters, while a 12 member swarm could do so over 22-25 meters, and a 24-member swarm could do so over 33-40 meters. The legendary 100+ member swarms could maintain their mental union over a distance of as much as 150 meters or more.

This connection is highly resistant to Antipsi, all Antipsi effects targeted at the mental connection between swarm members operate a -10 penalty.

A bonded swarm can communicate with their owner/bond partner over a distance equal to twice their native Telepathic range within the swarm, or twice the native Telepathic range of the Homosapient psion, whichever is greater. This is simple communication, not more elaborate Telepathy skills.

If their bond partner is within the basic mental union range of the swarm, he or she can benefit from their artificially-bred power boost ability. This takes the form of transfer of Fatigue points, useful for psionic purposes only, from the swarm to the psion.

Each member of the swarm can store and contribute psychic energy to this connection, for gaming purposes assume that for each Symax in a swarm, the bond partner can gain 1 'free' Fatigue point for use with psionic powers and skills, and which are drawn upon before his or her own native Fatigue. This energy is separate from the 'natural' Fatigue of the swarm members and draining it does not harm them in any way, nor weaken them in any physical way, it merely drains their psychic energy reservoir for a time.

Once drained, the psychic energy will recharge at a rate of about 1 Fatigue point per hour for the swarm as a whole, up to the storage limit of the current swarm (which is determined primarily by its size and assuming all members are in range.)

GM note: Be careful. A large supply of 'free' Fatigue can very easily make a low-power psion a major force. A GM may wish to limit the size of a swarm that a PC is allowed to maintain.

EXAMPLE 1: Barbara has a 20-member Symax swarm. When she is close enough to them, she can draw on their psychic energy reservoir to give herself, in effect, 20 Fatigue points useful for psionic effects only. She can do anything with these 'extra' Fatigue points that she can do with her own native Fatigue, for psionic purposes. Thus, she could spend 3 of the Fatigue points to expend Extra Effort on any use of her powers, adding a level of Power for each 3 points. She could use the 'free' Fatigue to make Repeat Attempts, or launch damaging Telepathic attacks such as Mental Stab or Mental Blow. None of these uses tire her own drain her own Fatigue level in any way. She need only begin to tap her own Fatigue when she has emptied the reserves of the swarm.

She could not apply this 'free' Fatigue to physical exertions such as running or fighting, or anything of the sort. All such Fatigue costs come directly from her own actual Fatigue.

Example 1a: Barbara has just failed in her attempt to penetrate the mind shield of her target, and wants to try again. This is a Repeated Attempt and would normally cost her a Fatigue point. She also decides to use Brute Force in the next attack on the Mind Shield. This costs her 2 Fatigue points as well, for a total of 3. Her 'native' Fatigue is 10, but she can draw on the swarm for its energy and make her Brute Force Repeat Attempt leaving her own Fatigue untouched. (She still suffers the skill penalties, though.)

That leaves her swarm with 17 points to draw upon, and the 3 points she used will return over the course of about 3 hours (everything else being equal). If this fails, she could draw another 3 points from the swarm and come at her target again, for that matter.

To be continued...

[Johnny1A.2]

SYMAX continued...

To continue with our examples, let us assume that Barbara as Telepathy 8, and her second attempt to penetrate the Mind Shield of the target succeeded. Now she wants to inflict some damage with a Mental Blow attack.

EXAMPLE 1b: Barbara decides to launch a Mental Stab attack against another target, which costs 2 Fatigue. To make her attack more effective, she decides to take the skill penalty associated with Extra Effort, since she has high skill levels. She decides to spend 4 Fatigue points, boosting her Telepathy power from 8 to 10! This means that her Mental Stab attack will now take 2 HT points off the target.

The attack is successful, and now she decides to follow up with another such attack, spending 2 more Fatigue for another Mental Stab and 4 more Fatigue to boost her Power to 10 again. She rolls a critical success, and does 2d of damage to the HT of her target, who is killed!

By now over the course of a few moments she has spent 15 Fatigue points, which would normally be beyond her capabilities (recall she has 10 Fatigue points naturally). But since she is drawing from the reserves of her Symax swarm, she is not even tired, and she has another 5 points of 'free' Fatigue left to draw upon!

EXAMPLE 1c: Having read the mind of her first target and killed his compatriot with a mental attack, Barbara now finds herself being shot at by other enemies, and she has to run for it. What ensues is a dead run, at top speed, and some climbing. She ends up needing to spend Fatigue to make her getaway...and this Fatigue cannot be drawn from the Symax, it has to come from her real, actual Fatigue, her own muscles and lungs and body.

EXAMPLE 1d: Pausing to catch her breath in what she thinks is momentary safety, Barbara finds herself attacked by an unarmed but strong enemy. She snaps up her 'PK shield', which costs 1 Fatigue point, and to boost its strength she uses Extra Effort to raise her PK strength, which is normally Power 5, to power 6, to give her shield a DR of 3, costing another 3 Fatigue points.

The shield protects her long enough to let her strike out with another Mental Stab at her attacker, she spends 2 Fatigue for a Mental Stab. The attack does enough damage to incapacitate her attacker, leaving him barely conscious and in pain, with only minutes to live (he started with low HT).

Now she has finally overreached her 'free' power, this last engagement raised her total psychic expenditure to 21 Fatigue points, and her swarm can supply only 20. So this last Mental Stab cost her a 'real' Fatigue point, on top of the one just spend during her run and climb.

But...Barbara, with Power 8 Telepathy and Power 5 PK, has stolen information from a guarded mind, killed two enemies with telepathic power alone, endured several hard blows from a strong man unharmed, and escaped from a group of foes, over the course of no more than a few minutes, and is only modestly tired (-2 personal Fatigue).

(GMs see the above note about the potential of large amounts of 'extra' Fatigue combined with even modest psionic powers.)

To be continued...