Ixid: locate sources of food higher in the caves, for us and the Dirigids. Selectively group some of the dirigids by size for creating a larger subgroup to make floating easier. (this action can take place over several turns.)
Evolution: continue with the radiation tolerance.
You have invested two points. One more is still required.
You pick out a few of the larger Dirigids from the ones around your nest. You have enough to fly four Ixid currently, and you'll be able to get more when the main Dirigid cloud returns.
You locate a large cluster of tree-like branches hanging downwards from the roof of the cave. They appear to have fruit on the ends, but the radiation at that height will be quite severe.
Graxid:
Evolution: Gain enough radiation resistance to be able to traverse the surface terrain for a day.
The Graxid concentrate on breeding in the warrens, hunting outside and driving off intruders.
You gain one point towards Extreme Radiation Resistance. This evolution will take fifteen points total; you might want to choose an alternate path for now, but any points you choose to invest will build up.
Your numbers thrive in the protection of the caves. The stench of the great beast keeps other animals from approaching, and by the time it fades you should have numbers enough for your own protection.
Your scouts report the location of your old nest has collapsed completely, blocking off that tunnel and leaving only one exit from the cavern; the tunnels upwards into the surface. They are quite high-up on the walls of the cavern, but you should be able to climb well enough to reach the tunnels. The harsh solar radiation poses it's own barrier, however.
Try hunting one of the big worms now.
Evolution: radiation resistance
((Did you roll for the battle?))
(No, I didn't roll, I just took into account the actions of the players and tried to visualize the battle. If the players as a whole disagree with this methodology, I can move to something more out of my hands, but I've tried to run this game with as few limitations as possible.)
Your hunters pursue the Worm. You can see small marks on it's side from where the Destrachen attacked it; but it seems they wholly failed at damaging it significantly. You will need a new tactic besides brute force to take down the Worm, and you will likely have to kill it quickly; a difficult prospect considering it's size.
Yrb: Continue expanding coldward and broadly along the same temperature strata, colonising adjacent cavern networks. Take stock of what other notable species cohabit all Yrb-colonised caverns.
The species mutualism with the grubby little worms was proving to their advantage after all. The Yrb continued to expand, taking the Kuyeth colonies with them, and began to provide additional edges to their guests; When the Kuyeth are attacked, focus [aggression] impulses on them to assist their fighting, or [fear] when completely outclassed to assist escape.
Evolution (Psychic Receptors) - 2/5
(For my own reference.)
Distributed biology, transient organs. Take the form of brownish-white mats. At sufficient growth, capable of supporting psychic pseudo-organs.
Sessile: Incapable of movement, only spreading.
Psychic Broadcaster - Can provide impulses of [aversion], [attraction], [aggression] and [fear] to nearby creatures with brains or neural nets.
Psychic Receptor - Evolution 2/5 points.
3/5 points in Psychic Receptors
Your colonization progresses slowly. The competition with other plant life is stiff, as they do not have to support the burden of your psychic organ. Nevertheless, you make some progress.
The influence of your psychic control on the Kuyeth is very strong due to their limited higher-intelligence, but you often find frustration in their actions. They will attack blindly or run towards obvious threats, and you don't have the ability to redirect them. Emotional control is a very blunt tool, after all.
Taking stock of what your major colonies can sense, you detect the following species:
-Salandrians
-Kuyeth
-A large and voracious plant-eater in the process of devouring a colony
-Some tripeds running from the Destrachen
-Destrachen
-The Worm(
It isn't near a colony, but it emits an enormously-strong psychic signal.)(See Addition)
Addition: Due to the Borak's actions, you have a colony directly next to the Worm and it's nest. The creature itself is a beacon of Psychic energy, a million times stronger than the Mother Colony. This energy seems to fade when the creature is asleep; it is likely that the creature cannot maintain this power at all times.
Garzakins. Attack the tripedals. Have the eldest herd them to the rest of the pack
Evolve greater venom potency
You have one point in Moderately Powerful Venom. Two more points will be required.
The Tripedals die easily, and flee from the cave. Strangely enough, what appeared to be nests are completely empty, devoid of eggs or droppings. Their meat is satisfying, and you use the food from the hunt to allow you the time to move the entire pack in. Your migratory stage is over, and you've settled into your new home.
(You've gained a sufficient level of development to create new castes.)
Borak: Approach the mother worm, and determine if it is hostile. If it is, melt it. If it isn't, set up a colony around the egg, and defend it from threats. If the worm starts messing with our heads, bring some Yrb over to its nest so that they can broadcsst aversion signals.
You approach the worm cautiously, thinking it asleep. When it rears it's vast head and gazes upon you, you freeze, caught entirely by surprise. After several seconds, however, the worm settles it's head back down, apparently dismissive of you as a threat. You begin nesting around the Worm, and quickly find that the creature enjoys relative security from other animal threats; nothing so small as a fly approaches the Worm's nest. This does have the advantage of keeping your nest safe, but surely it can't be this simple, or other creatures would be living here also. You bring some Yrb with you out of habit, and they grow safely near your nest.
Salandrians: Establish nests in slightly cooler regions.
Evolve: Greater sexual dimorphism, males are slightly smaller but even faster, and females are slightly larger and more powerful, but also less agile.
The Salandrian genders grow further distant, and the females are on the border of being too large to navigate the tunnels in and out of the nest. (Any larger of a gap will require specific castes for the genders.)
You head Coldward, into the central tunnels of the belt. You find the Yrb's spread is fairly limited in this area, and instead a massive variety of life exists, from docile herbivores, to massive vine-like organic tendrils, to ferocious carnivores more fearsome than the Eyul.
On the subject, you are now finally being avoided by the Eyul hunting-packs. With this, you at last have safety to hunt and multiply.
(You now have sufficiently established your species to create castes.)
Destrachen: The Worm learns. The Nests also learn. But how to learn from sleeping? For now, their efforts are wasted. The Watchers will search for food sources, instead, and keep an eye out for the nests of beasts that might attack us. Our Hunters will make the tripeds our meals, as the Miners continue their work. In time, we shall grow great, and strong. For now, we must continue to grow, and continue to rise with the heat. Our Miners find paths, force rock out of the way in their collection, and magma flows up with them, where once there were veins of metal and sweetstone. The heat keeps our young comfortable as they grow, while the cold hardens our Hunters bodies, high above.
Finish Evolving Medium Heat Resistance
You adapt to the growing heat of the Earth, something your unique bodies are much better suited for than others. You can delve deeper, and even survive temporary proximity to magma. Any immersion is still fatal, of course.
The tripeds provide a great source of food; despite the large number of species preying on them, their numbers seem limitless. It's a mystery as to why; they are never seen with young, and their nests are always empty.
Your species begins to differentiate, with separate adaptions for heat and cold. Despite this, the nests stay in close contact, and the genetic difference never grows too large.
Your hunters fail to locate any threats to your nest, excepting one; an enormous eight-legged monstrosity. It ambushed a few of your hunters while they searched for the tripeds; all but one were found uneaten, their skin bloated with an especially toxic poison.
Kuyeth: Move alongside the Yrb, Coldward.
Evolution: Develop a longer body with a more sleek form to allow quicker travel.
The Kuyeth flatten muscle groups and secrete a mucus enabling quicker travel; the adaption is currently primitive, but can be developed further. (Trait Gained-Slightly streamlined)
You move with the nests of the Yrb. They use their powers to exert a mental influence on you, one your small minds cannot easily defy; luckily, it appears they do not intend to use this power to harm you. Together, your collective colonies stretch further Coldward than ever before; in fact, you can start to feel a change in the air. Maybe, even further, there is something different than the monotonous barren rock?
Dirigid main cloud: move to the South tunnels. Attempt to have the whole cloud work together to push itself through the powerful winds. A formation like a hollow cone, or like the 'V's geese fly in would probably be optimal for this task. If this turns out to be impossible, move Warmwards instead, looking for interesting things on the cavern roof.
Group at Ixid nests: continue to breed and guard.
Evolution: finish radiation resistance.
Your species is now highly radiation resistant; you can bear even the direct radiation of the surface for as long as an hour. Any Dirigid sent to the surface only tell of a vast waste, where a massive white-green sun beats down with ferocious energy. No life can be seen in any direction.
The main Dirigid cloud manages, barely, to move against the wind in a cone-shape, and move through the tunnels in the walls of the cave. They emerge, after a short journey, out of an enormous spire connecting cavern to surface. It rises up in a rectangular form, sharp geometric edges defining it's shape amid the blur of the sands. It appears to be made out of an unnatural substance; a smooth surface that resists erosion by the endless wind.
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Topic: Dawn of Evolution [Multiplayer] (Read 18824 times)