Category: Tales from Talifar

Driddyon

Physical:

A tall, thin, winged race.  They are very fast and dangerous with a defense mechanism that fires poison hair in all directions, they bring pain and devastation when they attack.  They are also very flimsy creatures; with hollow bones and a skeletal appearance.  Thin, translucent membranes are all that holds their innards in.

Due to the amount of energy required to stay airborne, they are very limited when it comes to clothing, armor, and weapons.  They can carry up to 200 lbs. for very short distances, and then must rest for hours to recover.

Social:

Their social structure varies radically from group to group.  Some seek peace with other species, but many prefer battle and domination.  Most are migratory nomadic, building temporary structures out of woven wood and branches.  Being cold-blooded, they travel towards the equator in the winter, mainly to deserts.  In the summer they tend to live around the tree line in mountainous areas.

There are a few permanent Driddyon buildings and monuments around Talifar.  These are built by the more civilized factions.  There is minimal trade between Driddyon and other races for two reasons.  Firstly, most races are terrified of them, their language is very difficult to understand, and the males who are the ones who do the traveling are very stupid.  And secondly, Driddyon don’t have many needs that they can’t fulfill themselves.  Some of the more civilized colonies have taken to wearing decorative sashes, cords, and ribbon.  But these are seen as luxuries.

Like Koala bears, there is one particular food source that they all need to live.  It is a cactus-like plant that produces a very thick sap.  This sap works perfectly with their metabolism, powering them like no other food source.  So those that wish to expand their territory must plant groves of this plant at least a year or two before they can move into the new area.

Another unpleasant fact is that their reproduction cycle requires a live animal which they attach a parasitic egg that fuses with the host body, sapping its life to grow.  They usually find small creatures like sheep, but some of the nastier tribes are known to grab sentient species, including human children and Spitters.  

Generally the females are the political and religious leaders.  They are more intelligent and live longer than the males for a variety of reasons.  (Mainly the men-only military campaigns, and less flying stresses on the part of the females.)

History:

Driddyon were brought to Talifar on the A.I. Ark from a system threatened by a supernova.

Statistics:

The Swarm

Description:

The swarm is made up of billions of individual insects, with a few Queens who operate within their designated boundaries.  The Swarm insects have the ability to form a hive mind when enough of them congregate.  Individuals can only follow instructions given to them just before they break off from a hive mind.  A complex chemical data storage tank in their brain allows them to act out what the hive mind decides, while instinct takes care of every other process necessary for survival.

The Queens act like cartel bosses, working behind the scenes to control the destiny of Talifar.  The main method they utilize is controlling the information flow of the world.  Due to their size and intelligence, the Swarm is used by most races and kingdoms as communication devices.  Small enough to fly past almost any security, but large enough to carry tiny written messages, they have created a proto-world-wide-web.  With their ability to manipulate that information in subtle, but profound ways, the Hive are working to take over the world.  The only way they are able to do this is by keeping the Queens a secret.  No one outside of the Hive has any idea there is an organization behind the communication network.  Any who start poking around disappear quickly.

History:

The Swarm are native to Talifar

Statistics:

Siij

Physical:

Barely qualifying as sentient, the Siij are a blight on all they come in contact with.  The Siij straddle the line between animal and plant.  Though they are free thinking and mobile, they grow from a rooted, tree-like queen.  They are birthed from pods that grow on her limbs, dropping to the ground when they are ready to hatch.

Social:

Their society is run completely on instincts that override any free thoughts that might interfere with the program. Their life cycle is based on a tribal-wide occurrence that happens every year or so.  A new Mother will split and once fully grown, (within a month) will begin to walk.  During this mobile stage the Mother never communicates.  On the birth of a new mother, the tribe sets apart the bravest and strongest members for the Journey.  When the new Mother starts to travel, her entourage follows and protects her.  They never know where she is going or how far it will be before she settles down and morphs into her next life-stage.  Once she does, her legs turn to roots, and her arms to limbs.  At that point the new tribe begins scouring the surrounding area for meat to feed her.  They also strip bark and leaves, devastating the environment.  As they destroy the area around the Mother they are forced to send out envoys further and further to sustain their tribe and its replenishment. As they are in constant conflict with any civilization they come near, they are very competent warriors.  

One very unique feature of the Siij is their huge variance in physical appearance.  Deformities are common and accepted.  Every individual finds some niche in the tribe to fill.  Being omnivores, every size of Siij can hunt something, even if it’s just worms.  If a Siij is born with no legs, he could get lookout duty, or grooming duty.  Many are born with four legs and no arms.  They are useful for dragging back large prey and carrying weapons or rations.  

Their language is rudimentary, mostly composed of clicking and rasping sounds.  It could be described as dried palm leaves scraping together.

Individual jobs are bestowed based on ability, need, and the intelligence of the nutrients affecting their growth.  For example, a tree that is fed enough humans will start producing Skilled Hands, Siij that can craft rudimentary tools, skins, baskets, etc.  All tribes have Chanters, which tend to be the smartest and act as coordinators and battle chiefs.  They have powers similar to the Mother Tree, to emit hormones and scents that manipulate the Siij under their command.

History:

Siij originate on Talifar from a meteor that bore a Mother Seed.  Siij are an artifact of an unknown alien intelligence and serve an unknown function, though ecological warfare seems likely.

Statistics:

Varon

Physical:

Gray or blue skinned sea-snake-like people with sleek, seahorse-like features, alligator jaws, and large serpentine bodies.  Several sets of fins adorn their head and back.  They are able to breathe both water and air (with less efficiency).  They are able to live on dry land as long as they can wet their skin a couple of times a day, and have plenty to drink.  There are freshwater and saltwater races within the Varon.  

Social:

Varon have a lot of different social configurations.  Everything from roving nomadic barbarians of the sea, to highly civilized kingdoms built at river deltas.  Often called River Men, the freshwater variety are smaller and tend to be more civilized.  One thing they have in common is being very useful to other races.  Serving as the interface between land and water, they are the gatekeepers to a great many mysteries.  Such as the Ancient Ones, fishing information, and water vessel travel.

Varon females have the unique ability to extrude a wide, opalescent sheet of material from a special spinnerets located under a V shaped pectoral flap.  They build most of their structures from this substance called Pearlescence, using it by itself, or as a kind of mortar, holding blocks of stone together.  It comes out soft, but solidifies into an almost indestructible substance.  Diet and other factors affect its properties, so those who produce it are well taken care of. (e.g. Eating silver compounds produces anti-macrobial Pearlescence so algea and barnicals won’t grow on it.) While it is malleable, Varon form all kinds of armor, weapons, and decorations out of it.  Pearlescence is highly prized for its beauty, strength and flexibility.  It can also be folded over other materials to create composites, but only during its fresh, malliable state.  When it hardens it is practically indestructable and fire resistant.  It can not be re-forged once set.  Forge fire will blacken and weaken it, but won’t melt it.

With all they have to offer, Varon can strike lucrative trade agreements with the land people.  What they seek most is worked stone for buildings, and gemstones.  As swinging a hammer is not as easy underwater as it is in air, they don’t do much carving, mining or metallurgy.

They are resistant to compression sickness, and are able to dive to around 5,000 feet.  Though they do not stay down that deep for very long.  They tend to build their kingdoms on continental shelves, preferring the natural light.  Many palaces even soar above the surface for status and trading purposes.  There is however, a substantial portion of Varon who live deeper and further from land.  They are generally nomadic tribes of barbarians who are almost always at war with each other, mariners, and the Shlak.    

History:

The Varon were deposited by an Ark ship 1,287 Before (Human) Crash

Statistics:

Shlak

Physical:

Like giant sea-turtles, mixed with king crabs, these boney people inhabit the deep seas.  They are very different looking depending on the depth in which they live.  Those that inhabit the disphotic zone are tall, spindly and brightly colored, while those down in the deepest trenches are squat and pale.  

Their general propensity towards keeping to themselves is facilitated by their body structure.  Shlak are able to fold themselves up into a hard, spiny lump.  They can also squirt a choking cloud of chemicals towards enemies.  If a conflict can be solved in that way, that is what they will always do.  If necessary however, they have powerful claws and mandibles and are worthy opponents.

Shlak grow gardens on their shells and their regional differences keeps their coats uniques.  They also garden larger plants which they take great care in arranging in specific aesthetic styles which varies by region.

In general, the deeper they live the more pronounced their bioluminescent antena are.

Social:

Most Shlak don’t travel much, preferring a simple, quiet life.  The lower they live the more they are like this.  Those above 4000 feet have to deal with barbaric Varon and other large predators.  The ‘deep ones’ keep inviting them to come deeper and shake their heads in confusion when refused.  The ‘tall ones’ think the ‘deep ones’ are insufferable bores, and seldom visit.  However, they have always been cordial towards one another and there are no records of interspecies warfare.

For homes they generally dig holes into soft rock and cover them with slabs of stone.  Some communities have above-ground structures that are reminiscent of Stonehenge.  Where the current is slow, they may stack many slabs together like a house of cards, filling in the gaps with seaweed. Many live on and around the mid ocean mountain chains near black smokers.  

As they are the closest to the Ancient Ones, the Shlak are the filters through which information travels to them.  The Shlak are the only ones who can communicate directly with the Ancient Ones, though on a limited level.  Generally news will come through civilized Varon, to Shlak, then finally to the Ancient Ones.  From their perspective, the Ancient Ones find the Shlak amusing little people; always buzzing around, talking quickly, and never stopping to think.  When, in fact, the Shlak move and speak about 10 times slower than humans.

Shlak culture, especially among the ‘deep ones’, is heavily influenced by the Ancient Ones.  The Shlak see them as great teachers and prophets.  Though they never ask for anything but wisdom from the Ancient Ones, they often bring gifts of whale carcasses to them as signs of appreciation.  

History:

Shlak were deposited by an AI Ark.

Statistics:

Spitters (AKA The People,  Krachnak, Dung Suckers)

Physical:

They are short, stout, black leathery beings that can curl up into a lump.  They can extrude webbing from their hands and can defend themselves by spitting noxious venom or swelling up like a needle blowfish.  The have sharp little teeth and they eat fecal matter or rotten/moldy organics.  They do not find this in the least bit humiliating.  They consider all the lower lifeforms that process their nutrients for them in the same way human hunters and farmers consider their animals to be machines that convert energy from plant to meat form. 

Social:

Calling themselves “The People”, these little guys have closed off almost all relationships with outside races.  They see all other species except for the giants as lower animals.  Generally pursuing knowledge, they build their societies around gathering information.  Working secretly to build libraries of data as well as ‘herding’ various species around with a grand, thousand-year-plan.  Most other races don’t realize or care about their intelligence or pursuits, they just like that their waste is disposed of.  So there is a tenuous relationship with most cultures.

History:

On their home planet, spitters were originally parasites on the Majismontem, but when the Giants advanced technologically enough the spitters were genetically modified to be servants to them.  After settling on Talifar they grew in numbers and as the Majismontem left their farming and spread around the planet, many spitter colonies emerged independent.  But they are still genetically attracted to the Majismontem with a kind of familial bond, so they generally consider it an honor to serve as a Majismontem groomer

Statistics: