Hey; since last time I had created this I had also created an app (which also had passed,) I thought I might just bundle the two together into one big post. Anyways, here we go. Name: - Ropefish Description: An amphibious, snake-like creature / parasite which looks almost precisely like an root of a plant. The creature may be anywhere from 6-12 inches, the largest recorded length being up to 3 feet in length. It's most notable (and important) feature is several green lumps lining it's body, which may be expended to leave temporary craters in it's body and produce a green, semi-solid liquid. Instead of small scales, the creature depends on 0.5-2 inch strips of hard muscle to traverse, allowing it to easily grip to most surfaces. The biology of these creatures are mostly like a worm, but with several additional organs: such as a long, thin gland that stretches across it's body dedicated to producing Oxycontin (C18H21NO4HCl), and a small pouch filled with hydrochloric acid. They also have two extra organs dedicated exclusively to creating and oxidizing salt water to produce Chlorine. Due to these extra organs, their diets consist of mainly acid-based products and salt products, such as bread, crackers, and milk, to maintain the sack's integrity. It's outer "skin" is also made out of a high 13.8 pH level material, making killing these things near-impossible with corrosive materials (such as stomach acid.) Behavior: This creature instinctively behaves as it looks; it will traverse around on land or sea, attempting to find any kind of plant life that is similar to it's tint of skin. Once it finds said plant, it will attempt to act as if it were a part of it, whilst also trying to show off it's unique attributes. Once it's startled from anything touching it, it will begin to thrash about, not causing any actual harm but certainly scaring it's potential predators off. However, this often leads to the Ropefish being consumed. When the ropefish gets older, however, it will slither across land, acting as a snake due to it's new purple sheen. A tamed Ropefish, on the other hand, is often one of the most loyal and creatures to exist within the galaxy. It will often follow the owner around, sometimes even curling up on a limb, or even as a scarf. In a household setting at night, the creature will not do anything to harm it's owner or partners. Any potential threats that the creature senses will be slithered upon vigorously as it attempts to constrict a spot it feels to be a weak point (ex: tying two legs together, around any orifice such as the mouth, etc.) bursting a few of it's green lumps in order to slowly kill the assailant over time. Of course, it's not very strong when unprepared, so it can easily be pulled away in one swift tug. Tamability: The Ropefish can only be tamed by a select few races in a safe environment, as they often turn into a serious pest infestation when they manage to reach almost anywhere it's captors sleep. Thus, races that are NOT capable of being bred with will have the highest chance of tamability, such as Florans, Novakids, Glitch, and more. In order to tame these creatures, they must be exposed to the figure at a young age. The most common way of gathering them is by live bait, subjecting a creature into inhabiting a live host (such as a pig or sheep) and being there when it escapes. This must be done over 2-3 generations before the ropefish begins to recognize the humanoid, and will not assault them. From there, the ropefish will often treat it as an familiar face, latching onto the trainer's skin. If they wish to use it for medicinal purposes, they must use a basic food reward system for whenever it unintentionally releases it's plaster, and may be even trained to release on wounds whenever they see one. Where is it found?: Much like snakes, these creatures evolved from an underwater species of reptiles, who needed to hide from predators in an literal underwater forest. Their method of camouflage was simple - pretend to be a root of a plant and reproduce via herbivorous fish species. As such, when hunted by florans, they quickly become a form of tribal medicinal "pets" that prove to be one of the key resources in a successful tribe. Rarity: It's commonly found in the bottom water / ocean-based locations - such as Caprison's ocean or garland cafe's pond - or in the possession of a tribal doctor. It will not show up anywhere on planets with slightly lower then earth-level or lower moisture in the air in it's natural environment. Diet: Due to the extra organs mentioned in it's description, their diets consist of mainly base food and sodium chloride (such as bread, crackers, and milk) to maintain the sack's integrity. Products: The ropefish can produce a single product - from it's small Reproduction: I can only describe it's reproduction methods as an suicidal act of asexuality. The reason being is that it may only reproduce with an organic, flesh-induced host with a low pH acid-based digestive system - for example, humans, avians, apex (api?), etc. The process is based on getting it's seminal fluids to the digestive system through any orifice the creature has, often by being consumed and releasing it's sperm, in which the larvae will latch onto it's walls and begin to undergo rapid growth, and reach it's maximum size within the body depending on the maximum load of the stomach. Of course, the larvae may be digested as well if they settle too close to the intestinal region, as it's outer skin is not fully formed yet. While it's in it's state of rapid growth, it will attempt to soak in as many nutrients the stomach releases in order to produce a light nutrient-rich coating around it's body. When it reaches it's decided length, which may vary depending on how long it's growth period was (which may vary from a few hours to 2 weeks) it will attempt to break loose through an orifice - or potentially bursted stomach. AKA, it will burst out of the victim's gut if the stomach acid doesn't kill them first. Size: The larvae have been estimated to be about half a millimeter long, while their grown counterparts may reach up to three feet on record. The diameter on the record-breaking ropefish is two inches in diameter at the center of the beast, making an approximate 6 inch circumference. Of course, this is near the max size for them, as any larger would be unappealing to it's typical predators. Luckily, a majority of these creatures will be within the 6-12 inch category. Weight: As according to min - max size, the average weight can be from 5-15 lbs, while it's larvae makes up approximately 80% of the unrefined plaster, which weighs 2.8 lbs / cubic inch. And presuming an approximate 50 larvae is within that, it'll be about 0.056 Lbs in total. Lifespan: The lifespan of these creatures vary, as often their suicidal reproduction methods often get them killed, believe it or not. As a result, they can last from two hours in existence (due to immediately re-entering the host after leaving) to 20 years. As they grow older, the color begins to change to a vibrant purple in an attempt to become more visible to creatures, and will have a larger amount of green vessels. In addition, it's pH skin is decreased to an 8.1, and is much softer. However, not all of the green bumps will regrow over time beyond 13 years, causing harsh, flaky craters to form within muscle sections. Abilities: Most of it's "abilities" involve it's packets of ooze, as it is capable of bursting it at any time it needs. The liquid itself is highly runny, allowing it to easily escape from the grasps of it's predators if need be. In addition, the Oxycontin it produces is enough to render an average humanoid unconscious in large doses when in contact with skin, causing only fatigue, and when consumed, hallucinations. It's skin, also, is a great natural defense. It also has the minor ability to camouflage, capable of changing it's skin's color value and, to a much lesser degree, hue. Flaws: If at any time the hydrochloric acid pouch is popped, the creature will begin to slowly corrode from the inside out, leaving a husk of it's original body, which may be used as a great neutralizer. In addition, it has no method of sight or hearing, and mostly bases it's location on smell, taste, and touch. It's highly susceptible to flames on locations where there is no plaster, causing it to quickly spread to the rest of it's body as the liquid evaporates. Other: For the most part, this species is not known to by many. Two of the main people who actually know about this creature is Muramasa and Moil, though someone must actively search to find it. It's a common creature on the bottom of most colonized seas and plant life near underwater vents, where plenty of oxygen is available. Also, again, I'll reiterate: this is already a tech. I just want to move it to a bestiary-safe format, given it didn't really fit in with tech augments as a natural source. Name of Aug/Tech: Ropefish / "the root" Description: A soft, snake-like creature / parasite which represents a root. It's infamous for it's ooze, which is known to be one of the most effective but dangerous healing methods. The creature itself resembles anywhere from 6-12 inches with several, green lumps which produce the ooze. History of Aug/Tech: Much like snakes, these creatures evolved from an underwater species of reptiles, who needed to hide from predators in an literal underwater forest. Their method of camouflage was simple - pretend to be a tree root. However, this did not mean they didn't have offensive capabilities. Much like some inedible creatures, these creatures actually recreate themselves in a strange way: by being consumed. Not only is the surface of their skin highly immune to acids, but also they do contain, in a thin layer underneath the skin, a constantly refilling form of ooze (which is why this thing is getting the aug app in the first place.) The ooze, as produced directly, contains miniature doses of larva and minerals. As the Ropefish is devoured and consumed, the larva will attempt to latch onto the outer walls of the stomach, and feed on whatever minerals it can consume. If it successfully latches on, it'll enter a state of rapid growth, weakening said host, forming a white, nutrient-coated "shell†around it. After anywhere from 2 hours to a week, the root will crawl out of the body when it's in any form of unconscious / unaware state. This miracle root was discovered by a floran named "Jer-Tok,†or better known as "Jerome.†The floran studied this for months within a floran colony, hoping to allow for medical advances to be made. His research was taken to the fringe for the intent of it's social interactions, in which he met a hylotl named "Ropefish.†The hylotl had volunteered to dive into a pool of roots, which lead to the discovery of its reproductive method (SFW) as it lead to it taking over one of the rooms on her ship, thus earning the nickname "Ropefish†in honor of her. Two months afterwards, both people disappeared without a trace at the near – same time, however some "witnesses†claim they had either committed suicide out of madness or been beaten down by a few passersby's on the planet "Horsebutt,†or to be more precise, within the inn. This may lead to some surviving ropefish / roots lingering off of citizens not cleaning up their messes. Lookin' at you, Jerry. How does it work?: (I'm unsure whether or not it's survival method should go into it's history, or in here. So, uh, take History and "how it works†as a mixed bag.) The biology of these creatures are mostly like a worm, but with several additional organs: such as long gland which creates Oxycontin (C18H21NO4HCl), and a pouch filled with hydrochloric acid. They also have two extra organs dedicated exclusively to creating and oxidising salt water to produce Chlorine. Due to these extra organs, their diets consist of mainly acidically based products and salt products, such as bread, crackers, and milk, to maintain the sack's integrity. Intended use: It's intent is to bring a quick and efficient method of healing a person's minor to concerning wounds within anywhere from a minute to an hour, depending on how bad it is. Strengths: The main benefit is stated above; it allows the user to be healed effectively at a reasonable pace. In addition, the ooze does have minerals within that benefit the user, allowing for a spa treatment. It also provides a sensual (but not existent) feeling of warmth, allowing it to be used as a relaxant. Weaknesses: If the user ingests / leaves the beast exposed to a pore leading to the stomach, it will attempt to reproduce. If it successfully reaches the stomach, the user may discover that they are consistently hungry and thirsty, as the larvae entires a state of rapid growth. The process will take anywhere from 2 hours to a week for it to grow large enough to survive outside the host, and thus it will attempt to leave when the user is unconscious. Depending on the location the host is when it escapes, it can result in several severe problems, including the root infesting the user's sleeping quarters / ships, causing possible damages or another cycle of roots passing through the human while it's unconscious. or possibly death by starvation or constipation (clogging the lower esophagus / small intestine, thus not allowing food to enter the stomach) if it cannot escape. In addition, it will not magically heal the wound - it will still need time to close. It also takes a lot of time and money (Approximately 3 months to a year, depending on how condensed the larvae is) to separate and filter, making it an unreliable and extremely valuable resource. Tl;dr (make sure to read this – it includes some factual shit): PROS: - Fast, easy, and effective healing, although not instantaneous. - Minerals help the body recover. - Creates the illusion of warmth on the applied area. - The root requires a constant supply of food / water, thus if it infests an area which has no food / water, it will likely die off quickly. - The roots are non-sentient, allowing them to be "farmed" constantly for their ooze. CONS: - Cannot be exposed near pores on the body that connect to the stomach (Anus, Nose, Mouth, etc.), or several major downsides will occur. - It will produce larvae in the stomach, causing hunger and thirst problems. - Can cause death by malnutrition / starvation / constipation - Once it leaves the host, it can potentially infest the area it escapes - The ooze will not instantly make the wound recover. - Refining it to remove the larvae, thus allowing it be consumed / allowed near pores, is expensive, inefficient, time consuming, and unreliable. - the conversion rate is approximately 1 gallons to about 2 quarts, assuming the average amount of larvae per square inch is 3.2. - this also allows for it to be worth a larger sum of money due to it's uses. - Extremely hard to tag. Attainability: Open. Editing: this app is so damn old I need to do some reformatting. Gonna be editing throughout the day, to those looking over my old creation.
