ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: Archipelagan Dolphin...

[Johnny1A.2]

ORICHALCUM UNIVERSE Sidebar: Archipelagan Dolphin...

TAXONOMY: Solarigen Terrigen Eukaryota Animalia Chordata Mammalia Artiodactyla Cetacea Delphinidae Veranidelphin Archipelaga archipelaga

The planet Veranis (Dyaxor-A V) is home to five species of Delphinidae, as cataloged by Terrestrian naturalists as of late 2124. All appear to be relatively close kin, and Terrestrian biologists are mostly of the opinion that all evolved from a single species of dolphin introduced to Veranis at some point in prehistory, by unknown agents. [1]

The species Archipelaga archipelaga is found primarily in the enormous area of islands and shallow seas in and around the Southeastern Archipelago of the Northern Continent of Veranis. Colloquially known as the Archpelagan Dolphin to Terrestrians, they are one of the rare species of naturally psionically active animals.

The Archipelagan Dolphin:

A typical adult male:

Average length: 4.6-5 meters

ST: 42 (41 in females)
DX: 8
IQ: 7
HT: 16

Advantages:

Acute Hearing 5
Alertness 5
Biosonar
Independently Focusable Eyes
Longevity*
Nictating Membrane
Oxygen Storage
Peripheral Vision
Pressure Support 3
Psionically Active
Temperature Tolerance
Ultrasonic Communication

Disadvantages:
Aquatic
Distractible
Mute*
No Manipulators*
No Sense of Smell
Obligate Carnivore

Though the orca is their closest current Terrestrian kin, they do not much resemble the 'killer whales'. They tend to shades of gray, with little in the ways of countershading. They are not much smaller than the orcas, but are more slightly built and not quite as strong. They can dive much deeper than the orca, or indeed most Terrestrian dolphins in general, and they are in fact semi-pelagic predators. They gather much of their calories in deep dives off the continental shelf, they their preferred habitation is the shallows.

The Archipelagan Dolphin averages noticeably more intelligent than their Terrestrian relatives (or for that matter than the other delphin species of Veranis, with which they are not interfertile). Though measuring animal intelligence quantitatively is notoriously difficult, most Terrestrian naturalists studying them have concluded that they are on average more intelligent an adult chimpanzees. They also show signs of very limited but noticeable abstraction in their thought processes.

Archipelagan Dolphins are very long-lived by delphin standards, with many individuals living as much as a Terrestrial century. They are also more curious and less hidebound than most of their fellow dolphins.

Archipelagan Dolphins divide about equally by sex, and tend to form long term monogamous pair bonds, though exceptions have been observed. Pods of Archipelagan Dolphins are made up of bonded male-female pairs, usually ten to fifteen such pairs, and their immature offspring. Some pods are patrilineal, with the young females mating out of the pod into other pods, others are matrilineal with young males being transitory members. Pods thus tend to be extended family groups.

A given pod (usually) stakes out a territory, but 'visits' from members of other pods who are related by genetics are common and usually peaceful. That is, for example, in a pod made up of extended male relations, females who have 'mated out' often return for social visits and interaction. The same is observed of matrilineal pods.

At irregular intervals, groups of more distantly related pods are observed to come together in mass gatherings that can last as much as a week. These seem to serve as a chance for matings to happen, for separated kin to socialize, and possibly other purposes as well. Such 'gatherings' have been observed to include as many as one hundred Archipelagan Dolphins, though thirty to fifty are much more common.

The Archipelagan Dolphin is an apex predator, at least during maturity. Some local versions of sharks and other predators occasionally prey on the very young, the sickly, and the elderly, but this is exceptional, because the pods are very protective of their members, especially their young, and can and will organize mass attacks against such predators.

Archipelagan Dolphins reach sexual maturity after about ten Terrestrial years, and females can remain fertile for as long as fifty Terrestrial years. On average, they mate about every three Veranisian years, or between five and six Terrestrial years. A female will not mate while caring for a juvenile.

MORE LATER.


* Partly/totally linked to, or partly/totally mitigated by, psionic talent.

[1] Both hypotheses are correct. About ten megayears earlier, the Familiar Eldren introduced a population of dolphin stock closely related to the ancestors of Terrestrian orcas, and from this species the various different species of dolphin on Veranis evolved.

[Johnny1A.2]

LATER.

Even before the Thakarians or the Terrestrians came to Veranis, the native Vertaran inhabitants had noticed that there were several peculiar things about the Archipelagan Dolphin.

To begin with, they rare exceptions they are only found in the Southeastern Archipelago for which Terrestrians would name them. There are other habitats on Veranis that would appear to be eminently suitable for the species to thrive, but they have never colonized any such, and only rare 'loner' individuals of the species are ever found away from the Southeastern Archipelago.

Another oddity the locals became aware of is that they seem to be able to coordinate their actions over remarkable distances. An Archipelagan Dolphin facing a predatory or other attack, even if it comes when the individual is alone, usually is soon joined by dozens of conspecifics, from his or her own pod and other pods as well, converging on the site almost instantly, sometimes from kilometers away.

The natives claimed, and Thakarian and Terrestrian Humans would later confirm, that if one took an Archipelagan Dolphin, sedated it, and transported it across the planet and released it, taking every precaution to keep it ignorant of its location or how it arrived there, it would immediately begin working its way gradually back to its home waters, and almost always arrive safely, though it might need months to get there. They seemed to be able to locate their home waters from anywhere on the planet.

The natives claimed that it was impossible, or at least very difficult, to hold an Archipelagan Dolphin in captivity. The Thakarians and Terrestrians found this to be true as well, though less so for possessors of interstellar level technology. They can be captured and held, but they do have a remarkable talent for finding ways out.

Eventually, both the Thakarian and Terrestrian naturalists would realize that a significant latent psionic potential existed in this species.

It would not be precisely accurate to say that the Archipelagan Dolphins possess psionic 'powers' as such. Their minds, though bright as animals go, are still fundamentally animal minds. As such, they lack the necessary intellectual and cognitive faculties to direct their psionic potentials into specific, definite 'powers' or skills. Their use of their ability is mostly instinctive, with the key word being 'mostly'.

Their strongest psionic potential is sensory. Their minds are not sophont enough to engage in 'remote viewing' or anything of the sort, but they can and so have a psionic 'sense' of their surroundings that merges with their highly refined biosonar faculty. To the Dolphin, both senses are a single sense. Between that combined sensory ability, and their natural alertness, it is close to impossible to 'sneak up' on an Archipelagan Dolphin.

Their combined biosonar and ESP faculty also enables them to spot weak points in containment methods, to recognize concealed exits, and so forth.

They have a Telepathic ability that is very limited by humanoid standards. They can sense living beings that are relatively close to them (adding to the difficulty of surprising them), though the range of this is relatively short, rarely more than ten meters or so. They have greatly extended range with their conspecifics, an Archipelagan Dolphin can 'contact' another one Telepathically as much as ten kilometers away, or occasionally farther.

If at any time an individual Archipelagan Dolphin wants to 'contact' another that it knows is relatively nearby, within ten kilometers or so, it can do so with a roll of 3d, failing only on a critical failure. Past that distance, it works on a simple success on a roll of 3d, but with a -2 penalty for each additional kilometer, or -1 for close genetic relatives (parent, sibling, or offspring).

An Archipelagan Dolphin can also 'broadcast' to any conspecific within those ranges.

Though they can communicate Telepathically, their animal-level minds mean that what they transmit is mostly basic emotional or concrete images or sounds or the like, rather than abstract concepts. They can transmit 'fear' or 'hunger' or 'happy', they could signal 'food here' or 'danger here', but nothing more complicated than that. If they are within echolocation range, they can communicate somewhat more complexly. As with their senses, their Telepathic 'sending' ability merges into the audible communication as a single ability. Even in immediate proximity, though, they are still animals and limited to animal-level communication. (Though they average substantially more intelligent than, say, dogs or cats, they have not been bred for generations to be amenable to understanding words and humanoid communications, either.)

The Archipelagan Dolphin also has a very limited Psychokinetic faculty. As with the other abilities, its use of this is mostly instinctive. It can manipulate small objects, usually in play. It can keep a fish from wriggling out of its 'beak' while feeding. The amount of mass it can manipulate, and the range, are sharply limited.

A typical Archipelagan Dolphin can manipulate objects of up to about one hundred grams, with a range of about ten meters. The effective skill is equal to the IQ of the creature, meaning usually a skill level of 7. A few exceptions exist with somewhat stronger power, or greater skill, but again, mostly used in an instinctive way.

Archipelagan Dolphins can and have used this ability to open doors on containment pools, either by manipulating a simple locking mechanism, or observed how a humanoid controlled the gate. (They are bright enough to figure out that pressing a particular button or pulling a specific lever will open a gate, if they see a humanoid doing it.)

MORE LATER.