*Note to players: Please put your species name in your post.*
The sea becomes calm as the last shards of flaming ice and rock plunge into the depths. If it weren't for the new life clinging to their new world, you'd have never know a meteor landed here at all. As the waters return to normal, their denizens begin to reappear.
Summit: Branching creatures slither out from between cracks in the rocks. The look like worms growing out of worms in smaller and smaller successions. Photosynthetic bulbs line the creature. When startled, it contracts into the rock. These creatures are huge by comparison to any of the comet life, being upwards of two feet tall and wide. A variety of smaller creatures, flitter between the fleshy branches. Kelplike plants are also present and host several herbivores.
Middle: Small ovular creatures hover close to the ridges and slopes of the mountain. There they feed on the short sea grass there. Coraline structures are also present. Their hard skeletons form many shapes, sizes and colors. However, something this region is not without its dangers. Long eel-like creatures hunt here, praying on the herbivores that cannot hide or escape.
Lower: This region is devoid of almost all plant life. It's gloomy waters are unsuited to the sunloving entities of the day. Rocky and full of crevasse, many creatures find refuge from predators here. Some during the day and some during the night. There are also several species of zoathid like creatures in this area. Their tentacled mouths snatching prey that drifts too close, and debris which filters from above.
Abyssal: The flat emptiness which extends seemingly endlessly in every direction. Life here is dark and slow. Only few invertebrates manage to eek out a life here, sustaining themselves on whatever drifts down to them. Occasional outcroppings of rocks dot the landscape, most belong to an otherworldly comet and may house some menial life.
AurousYour species begins producing energy much faster than they could within the comet. This makes your species have much more energy than they once did. However, as oxygen is a waste product of photosynthesis, it means that some of your species is unable to process all the waste, making them sickly. Some die off, due to oxygen poisoning, but those who survive reproduce. Your population remains stable. Your species develops a small flagella. It's enough to move you with some effort, but your race isn't going to win any marathons without more specialized equipment.
Location: summit (10), middle mount (5)
Traits: photosynthetic, senseless, flagella, 2x2
Evolution Points: 1
The new environment spurs rapid evolution in the subgroup that fell into the abyssal plains. The pressure of the water above them leads some of your species to perish as they struggled to crawl under pressure, but a few members have partially or fully webbed limbs. This allowed them to forage for food faster than those who crawled, allowing them to survive. Others ran into the dangerous creatures of the depths, strange creatures somewhere between an urchin and a starfish laid claim to some of your species that was too slow to escape. Others found the abundance of corpses and nutrient rich mud to be quite inviting. Up on the middle mount, life was much more difficult. In the light of this reefy area many predators who operated on sight were able to locate your species as an easy meal. Despite this plant based food is abundant here and with a few evolutionary changes, a future could be carved out here.
Location: abyssal plain (45), middle mount (40)
Traits: omnivore, crawls (deep swimmers), touch, 1x1
Evolution Points: 1
Your species finds its life mostly unchanged. Eating, moving, reproducing, and all without a real brain to command it. Life was simple. Until predators found you. In particular one species of shimmery eels seems to have taken a liking to your species. Their toothy maws are filled with teeth that are meant to snatch prey out of the moving water and hold them there. This means that occasionally they will consume part of one of your creatures and it could regenerate. Other times your species is getting caught in the barb-like teeth and are devoured without being split into two.
Location: Middle mount (45)
Traits: omnivore, breakage, senseless, 2x1
Evolution Points: 2
The members of your species which survived the fall seemed to be slightly larger than average. Their bodies lending to be longer than most of the species. This aided them greatly in their search for food. Small invertebrates of all shapes and sizes could be found in your new sunlit home. Crustacean like creatures, squishy slug things, and other worms were all present. However, a normally tasty treat, the Aurous, gave off a an awful smell that wreaked of waste. Your species is by no means the top predator in this area. The teeming waters of light attract many a large predator from either the open ocean or the darker waters bellow. Your population manages to stay stable.
Location: Summit (33)
Traits: carnivore, eye spots, 1x4
Evolution Points: 1
Your species began the task of constructing new homes for themselves. However, right from the start, they ran into some difficulty. The tough volcanic rock that composes most of the mountain is incredibly dense and hard to dig into. Many of your species were picked off before they could even make a dent into the durable stone. However, a few members began extruding a sticky substance which hardened after a short time. Using sand, and small rocks, these members were able to construct external tunnels that protruded from the rocks, granting them safe havens from predators. These members of the species were more likely to survive and reproduce, which quickly spread this new adaptation to the population.
Location: Lower sea mount (45)
Traits: lithovore, crab-like, clicking, tunnel building, 1x1
Evolution Points: 1
Your species clusters together for protection. On the summit, your heat signature vision is almost useless as the waters there are much warmer than the the comet's waters were. As such its almost impossible to tell what's what during the day. This leads your species to come out mostly during the night and to live in dark crevasses within the rocks. Several members of the species are lost to predators. A completely different story occurs down on the abyssal plains. The acute heat vision of your species allows it to locate prey in the almost pitch black waters.
Location: summit (12), plains (35)
Traits: carnivore, scorpion-like, heat vision, 2x1
Evolution Points: 2
Author
Topic: Depths of Evolution IC (Read 1587 times)