DISCLAIMER: This is just a quick copy-paste job. I'll edit it later (probably).
The Chiroselach (Kero-sell-ock)
BIOLOGY
• Dorsal surface is covered with keratinous, slightly flexible plates. Young individuals have thinner, less brittle plating, older individuals have thicker and more rigid plates. The surface of these plates is iridescent, with the coloration being dependent chiefly on the chemical environment of the individual’s birth.
o Chiroselach often ornament their plating with designs in their own language using a bioluminescent compound native to their home world, which is masticated to form the pigment.
• Centipede-like movement with numerous short, single-jointed limbs, each ending in a bloom of five short flexible claws arranged radially, and an inner bloom of five opposed claws (essentially five very small, one-fingered hands in a circle).
o These claws are composed of keratinous material, initially flexible, but gradually hardening over time- the most-used manipulators remain flexible longest, but eventually any chiroselach must amputate and regrow their fingers.
o The anterior limbs tend to be longer than the posterior.
• Chiroseli are most attuned to the use of their numerous electroreceptors and chemoreceptive mouth tendrils, but possess a single large eye; their visual spectrum is concentrated on the near ultraviolet.
o Other creatures on the Chiroselach worlds have evolved to discard visual sense organs entirely, so the Chiroselach eye is widely believed to be vestigial (or would be in a state of nature).
• Mouth tendrils are olfactory and taste organs, but not used for actually consuming food, this being accomplished by a rasp inside the mandibles. Mouth tendrils grow continually; the ends eventually become numb, the nerves inside dying, and these dead tendril tips are then consumed.
o Chiroselach can process or harmlessly excrete the majority of toxins, and their sense of taste and cuisine includes the flavor of numerous chemicals other species could consider industrial.
o Chiroseli are also capable of recognizing individuals and familial relationships by taste- individuals often greet each other by eating each other’s mouth tendrils for precisely this reason.
• Chiroselach are hermaphroditic, with dual means of reproduction.
o By default, offspring are produced via parthenogenesis, grow within a special womb segment on the parent’s underbelly, and eventually bud off. These offspring are genetic clones of their parent.
o Chiroselach may also choose to have their womb segment implanted with another individual’s ovum; the host/parent converts one of their own ovum into a spermatozoon and fertilizes the donated egg. Pregnancy then continues as normal, resulting in a single offspring with traits of both donator and gestating parents.
o The womb segment is detached by the birth, and remains alive for a few months, gradually converting nearly all its mass into nutrition for the offspring.
o Chiroseli offspring are reared by an extended family grouping until they reach maturity (roughly 30 Sol years, or 5 Chirseli years).
• Chiroselach breathe via spiracles distributed in rows on the dorsal surface.
o Chiroseli are capable of breathing an oxygen atmosphere without harm, but consider an atmosphere with high proportions of greenhouses gasses to be more pleasant.
• Chiroseli vocalization is achieved first by expelling air through a series of pipes and orifices located in a hump just behind the head; and second by vibrating comb-like structures which close off those orifices. The resultant sound is capable of approximating speech, but the Chiroseli language more closely resembles a pipe organ filled with summer crickets.
• Chiroselach operate well in high-pressure atmospheres. However, low pressure or vacuum quickly causes severe injury, as their respiratory system is unable to equalize pressure and may burst violently.
HOME WORLD AND COLONIES
• The Chiroseli home world of Iloiuch (eye-loy-ooch) is comparatively warm and extremely humid over most climactic zones. It contains the species’ capital of Nachall, and numerous specialized cities which can best be described as performance-museums. The land area is 20% of the planet’s total surface and is primarily distributed across three major volcanic archipelagos.
• The majority of species on Iloyuch are marine arthropods, often of very great size, with significant populations of colonial siphonophores. Terrestrial life is almost exclusively composed of arthropods, with the remainder motile plants or sessile fungi. The Chiroselach are the only sapient species on Iloyuch.
• The Chiroseli maintain trade and cultural exchange outposts on numerous other worlds with similar conditions, and embassies on many more, but have established no formal colonies.
CULTURE
• Chiroseli culture is communal and based around family units of between 20 and 30 individuals, who are generally not genetically related. Mating pairs and similar bonds tend to shift continually within this group, but seldom outside it. However, offspring of a family group above what is necessary to maintain population most often seek out another grouping to join.
• A central element of Chiroseli culture is Iuchlam, best described as improvised poetic and musical praise. In the usual format, individuals will (usually over a large meal) seek to outdo one another by heaping compliments upon either an individual- a friend, relative, or cultural hero- or a concept, such as temperance or zest for life. The intention is to espouse the virtue and possibly superiority of the person or concept in question (which is never the singer eirself). These performances are not recorded, but may be repeated from memory repeatedly if they achieve significant notice or are considered great examples of the form. This is the purpose of the Chiroseli performance-museums.
o Chiroseli linguistic conventions in general are formalized and poetic, making musical expression very natural to the species.
• Chiroseli also enjoy frequent communal meals, either between a clutch of five to ten, or the whole family unit. Cuisine is considered almost an artistic medium, with some ingredients being added for flavor, others solely for scent (and not to be eaten) and still others intended to individualize the recipe- these last often being the mouth-tendrils of the chef.
• In relations both within and outside the species, Chiroseli generally recognize a single axis of moral judgment, usually translated as sanity vs. insanity. Sane behaviors are generally those which benefit the individual without harm to others, while insane behaviors are self-destructive, violently, or contradictory. Sane individuals are regarded as inherently more useful and productive, but not automatically as superior in general. Insane individuals cannot escape their insanity, but may still be worthwhile and of great interest.
The Chiroselach (Kero-sell-ock)
BIOLOGY
• Dorsal surface is covered with keratinous, slightly flexible plates. Young individuals have thinner, less brittle plating, older individuals have thicker and more rigid plates. The surface of these plates is iridescent, with the coloration being dependent chiefly on the chemical environment of the individual’s birth.
o Chiroselach often ornament their plating with designs in their own language using a bioluminescent compound native to their home world, which is masticated to form the pigment.
• Centipede-like movement with numerous short, single-jointed limbs, each ending in a bloom of five short flexible claws arranged radially, and an inner bloom of five opposed claws (essentially five very small, one-fingered hands in a circle).
o These claws are composed of keratinous material, initially flexible, but gradually hardening over time- the most-used manipulators remain flexible longest, but eventually any chiroselach must amputate and regrow their fingers.
o The anterior limbs tend to be longer than the posterior.
• Chiroseli are most attuned to the use of their numerous electroreceptors and chemoreceptive mouth tendrils, but possess a single large eye; their visual spectrum is concentrated on the near ultraviolet.
o Other creatures on the Chiroselach worlds have evolved to discard visual sense organs entirely, so the Chiroselach eye is widely believed to be vestigial (or would be in a state of nature).
• Mouth tendrils are olfactory and taste organs, but not used for actually consuming food, this being accomplished by a rasp inside the mandibles. Mouth tendrils grow continually; the ends eventually become numb, the nerves inside dying, and these dead tendril tips are then consumed.
o Chiroselach can process or harmlessly excrete the majority of toxins, and their sense of taste and cuisine includes the flavor of numerous chemicals other species could consider industrial.
o Chiroseli are also capable of recognizing individuals and familial relationships by taste- individuals often greet each other by eating each other’s mouth tendrils for precisely this reason.
• Chiroselach are hermaphroditic, with dual means of reproduction.
o By default, offspring are produced via parthenogenesis, grow within a special womb segment on the parent’s underbelly, and eventually bud off. These offspring are genetic clones of their parent.
o Chiroselach may also choose to have their womb segment implanted with another individual’s ovum; the host/parent converts one of their own ovum into a spermatozoon and fertilizes the donated egg. Pregnancy then continues as normal, resulting in a single offspring with traits of both donator and gestating parents.
o The womb segment is detached by the birth, and remains alive for a few months, gradually converting nearly all its mass into nutrition for the offspring.
o Chiroseli offspring are reared by an extended family grouping until they reach maturity (roughly 30 Sol years, or 5 Chirseli years).
• Chiroselach breathe via spiracles distributed in rows on the dorsal surface.
o Chiroseli are capable of breathing an oxygen atmosphere without harm, but consider an atmosphere with high proportions of greenhouses gasses to be more pleasant.
• Chiroseli vocalization is achieved first by expelling air through a series of pipes and orifices located in a hump just behind the head; and second by vibrating comb-like structures which close off those orifices. The resultant sound is capable of approximating speech, but the Chiroseli language more closely resembles a pipe organ filled with summer crickets.
• Chiroselach operate well in high-pressure atmospheres. However, low pressure or vacuum quickly causes severe injury, as their respiratory system is unable to equalize pressure and may burst violently.
HOME WORLD AND COLONIES
• The Chiroseli home world of Iloiuch (eye-loy-ooch) is comparatively warm and extremely humid over most climactic zones. It contains the species’ capital of Nachall, and numerous specialized cities which can best be described as performance-museums. The land area is 20% of the planet’s total surface and is primarily distributed across three major volcanic archipelagos.
• The majority of species on Iloyuch are marine arthropods, often of very great size, with significant populations of colonial siphonophores. Terrestrial life is almost exclusively composed of arthropods, with the remainder motile plants or sessile fungi. The Chiroselach are the only sapient species on Iloyuch.
• The Chiroseli maintain trade and cultural exchange outposts on numerous other worlds with similar conditions, and embassies on many more, but have established no formal colonies.
CULTURE
• Chiroseli culture is communal and based around family units of between 20 and 30 individuals, who are generally not genetically related. Mating pairs and similar bonds tend to shift continually within this group, but seldom outside it. However, offspring of a family group above what is necessary to maintain population most often seek out another grouping to join.
• A central element of Chiroseli culture is Iuchlam, best described as improvised poetic and musical praise. In the usual format, individuals will (usually over a large meal) seek to outdo one another by heaping compliments upon either an individual- a friend, relative, or cultural hero- or a concept, such as temperance or zest for life. The intention is to espouse the virtue and possibly superiority of the person or concept in question (which is never the singer eirself). These performances are not recorded, but may be repeated from memory repeatedly if they achieve significant notice or are considered great examples of the form. This is the purpose of the Chiroseli performance-museums.
o Chiroseli linguistic conventions in general are formalized and poetic, making musical expression very natural to the species.
• Chiroseli also enjoy frequent communal meals, either between a clutch of five to ten, or the whole family unit. Cuisine is considered almost an artistic medium, with some ingredients being added for flavor, others solely for scent (and not to be eaten) and still others intended to individualize the recipe- these last often being the mouth-tendrils of the chef.
• In relations both within and outside the species, Chiroseli generally recognize a single axis of moral judgment, usually translated as sanity vs. insanity. Sane behaviors are generally those which benefit the individual without harm to others, while insane behaviors are self-destructive, violently, or contradictory. Sane individuals are regarded as inherently more useful and productive, but not automatically as superior in general. Insane individuals cannot escape their insanity, but may still be worthwhile and of great interest.
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Sir's Dumping Ground - by sir - 11-27-2014, 10:34 AM
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