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[Draignean]

Hive Omega
Link to Core

Discord Link
https://discord.gg/VuEHzxyFJk

You are one of the mirror queens, with your slime filled sequestration cave closest to The Misted Ravines, The Desert of Mirrors, and The Shattered Badlands.

The slime you feast on now is not as rich with memory as the first layer that held you close through your gestation-slumber, but it still grants traces and secrets. A mental map of the region, promising strands within your children to manipulate and express, and a hungering drive to regain your halcyon glory.

There is much to do, and little time.

(You can rename your Hive freely at this stage)

It is now the design phase.


Starter Contest: The Map (Art)

As your ingested memories become organic and begin to fade, you struggle hardest to hold on to the map of the region, committing it to mind time and time again. What does it look like?

For this contest you need to draw a map that shows the 9 regions and the 2 sequestration caverns. Have fun, it’s the memories of a giant bug-monster.

The winner will gain a credit to make a design at full advantage. You have until the 3rd battle report to submit a map. Only submissions in the core thread are valid.   

Spoiler: Map (click to show/hide)

Long form explanation of each zone is in the core thread.

Zone of Toxicity
- The Parasitic forest (Side Alpha)  [Width: 9000]
- The Bog   [Width: 10000]
- The Misted Ravines  (Side Omega)  [Width: 3000]

Zone of Fire
- The Dried Seabed (Side Alpha)  [Width: 15000]
- The Lava Rivers  [Width: 5000]
- The Desert of Mirrors (Side Omega)  [Width: 15000]

Zone of Razors
- The Howling Crevasses (Side Alpha) [Width 3000]
- The Glowing Crater [Width 15000]
- The Shattered Badlands  (Side Omega) [Width 9000]

Spoiler: Organisms (click to show/hide)

Grub Production: 4000

Grub
 -Evolution Chance: 60%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Grub+ 20%
 -- Rozer: 30%
 -- Medusa Crab: 30%
 -- Aerplanar: 20%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 0
 - Description: A large, approximately one meter long,  grub of unobtrusive hue. Slow moving and nearly blind, this creature scrapes the surrounding matter for anything it can digest - which, given its robust gastric system, is quite a lot. Robust by dint of its general simplicity, this grub would only be dangerous in large vast numbers or to the already incapacitated.
--> Revision: Enabled very low grade TK/TP senses within 2 meters.
--> Revision: Changed brain structure to disseminated. Slight increase in intelligence, increases in durability (with drawbacks) and reflexes, but decrease in efficiency.
 
 Grub+
 -Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential 3
 - Description: A larger variant of the grub, with small plates of carapace bridging out from its fleshy body. Keratinous growths from its body mass can be used like peg-legs to supplement its undulating motion, and a pair of similar spike-growths flank its mouth to aid in gouging out food. It is still, however, nearly blind, quite slow, and barely more than harmless when alone.
Rozer
[Efficacy: 8] (You're going to be that team, aren't you?)
-Base Incidence Rate: 30%
-Evolution Chance: 35%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Rozer+ 70%
 -- Zeever Spider 30%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 1
 - Description: On the surface, the Rozer looks much like the grub that it emerges from. It is approximately a meter in length, fleshy-fleshy, and with only a hint of ribbing to its body to indicate 'legs'. However, the Rozer is much more than an ordinary grub. Each body segment of the Rozer contains a ring of specialized pores, capable of secreting a thick mucus that hardens readily on contact with the hair to form a strong, stiff, but modestly flexible binding agent. At the hind end of the grub are several modified cuticles from which grow rectangular sheets of chitin, and, at need, the Rozer can contort its body and gnaw off a section of chitin to use as building materials or impromptu armor. Their jaws and digestive tract have been considerably more developed as well, and while 'anything' would be an overstatement, a combination of enzymes, grinding gastric muscles, and good old fashioned stomach acids do enable the Rozer to chew through and break down (if not digest) many materials.

This being said, the Rozer is still very stupid. Instinctive programming allows it to dig tunnels and effectively craft shelters against the elements, but, while it has the functionality, it lacks the dexterity, senses, and brainpower to apply more armor to friendlies than a smattering of random chitin plates. The tunnels it forms, likewise, are made slowly - as the material as to be excreted somewhere. While a soft material like earth or sand can be pushed aside and then covered in mucus to create a tunnel, Rozer tunnels through harder or dense materials are self-sealing, albeit much easier to dig through.


Rozer+
-Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential 3
 - Description: An enormous Rozer, approximately twice as large in every dimension and eight times as heavy, the Rozer+ also features a tiny set of pedipalps beneath its mouth that provide assistance with gripping chitin shapes while they're being gnawed into the correct configuration - essential as the sheets it produces are considerably heavier. The Rozer+ is now more intelligent than its kin, but its large size and rubbery resilience make it an ideal final piece in large structures in which many, many smaller creatures can shelter.
Medusa Crab
[Efficacy: 6]
-Base Incidence Rate: 30%
-Evolution Chance: 35%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Medusa+ 70%
 -- Stymphalian Crab 30%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 0
-- MUTAGENIC BOOST USED
-Description: The Medusa is the first true return to one of the many important features of the old forms of splendor: legs. Six legged and striding like a demigod over its former siblings, the Medusa is, comparatively speaking, a very tough cookie. Four of its legs act as its primary means of locomotion, while the front pair feature grasping pincers of not inconsiderable strength.

The medusa has no mouth of its own. Rather, from a soft section of its back, the medusa is constantly budding out grub-like polyps. These polyps are semi-indepedent, with their own isolated neural and gastric structure, but a shared (if gated) circulatory system. The polyps have mouths and simple eyes, and are capable of feeding when the Medusa offers them meals from its claws. The polyps produce a unique binding secretion: a spray of misty organic vapor that binds and encapsulates a number of dangerous chemicals and toxic compounds. It’s not a universal agent by any means, but it does serve well as an emergency shower.

The misty spray hardens into a resin after accreting on a surface, and after further drying becomes a shell-like layer of smooth material - potentially quite colorful depending on the metallic ions it may have captured. This effect is used by the Medusa to build up their carapace with a thick layer of this inert material, harvested from their polyps, applied liberally, and psionically nudged into an even coat over the shell - greatly thickening a native carapace whose primary purpose is structural.

The polyps themselves, thanks to their semi-isolated systems, can be removed if they become damaged or infested, or if they need to be distributed to other members of the swarm to help reduce a region’s toxicity. Granted, if the other members of the swarm don’t have some form of pinchers, this means holding the polyps in the mouth, which can present some side issues. Detached polyps will die over time, but can function for relatively extended periods after being removed.

The Medusa has simple and dim vision, similar to that of an ordinary grub, but its psionic senses are very modestly increased to keep pace with its increased speed.

Medusa Crab+
-Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential: 4
-Description: The elite Medusa has only a few changes in the primary organism’s physiology. The legs are a little stockier, the body a bit larger, the forelimbs stronger with spiked claws and increased crushing strength, but no major alterations. The polyps, however, are considerably more aggressive. Their mouths have been upgraded with rows of small but tough teeth for grinding, and a powerful serrated radula. In combat, adrenal secretions from the Medusa will cause systematic necrosis of the buds of the oldest tumors, causing them to drop off and wriggle towards the target, attaching themselves like leeches and drilling into the enemy with their radula. Upon death, necromones produced by the Medusa cause rapid necrosis of the soft pad which produces the polyps and drives the remaining polyps into a frenzy, immediately detaching all of them in a suicidal burst.

Aerplanar
[Efficacy: 8]
-Base Incidence Rate: 20%
-Evolution Chance: 35%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Aerplanar+ 100%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 1
-Description: On land, the Aerplanar is a truly peculiar beast. Far more refined in appearance, with thin but strong chitin completely covering its body in a hard shell of sleek angles and sweeping curves, the Aerplanar is nonetheless awkward on the ground. Its four long, flat, stiff limbs are capable of walking, but in a peculiar sort of half-bent rowing motion that is both ungainly and graceless. Fighting on the ground is difficult for it, as its form forces it to embrace a somewhat awkward fighting style that is a combination of a grub's flopping forward bite and its own peculiar stilted lurch. That being said, the bite is notably upgraded from the grub, courtesy of a toothy maw capable of shredding off bites from lightly armored targets and chewing into modest amounts of chitin.

On land, however, isn’t even half the Aerplanar’s story. The telekinetic ability of the grub, used for senses and hovering the grub, has been refined to a single purpose - where the grub had to push off the ground to hover, the Aerplanar pushes off the air. Psionic cores networked by disseminated neural ganglia throughout the body and four limbs are capable both of making wide pushes against the air in extremely rapid succession and in creating compressive pads to manipulate air pressure around the wing-limbs. The wing-limbs themselves are optimized for static flight, reinforced, and with flexible portions acting as control surfaces to cut through the air. It is also capable of making psionically assisted flapping motions in order to stay aloft without forward motion, but this is a physically exhausting method typically used only when making a holding pattern would be unnecessarily dangerous. Its vision is remarkably keen, well optimized for long-range, but still superior to that of a grub when forced to the ground, which enables it to act well as a scout and spotter for the Queen.

It is quite difficult to understate how fast the aerplanar can be when in the air. Its streamlined body, psionic propulsion, and hardened carapace allow it to attain speeds of approximately 40-50 meters per second when in level flight, and capable of briefly accelerating to 80 via the means of a hefty pulse of psychokinetic energy - a feature which is typically used to take off from the ground or provide a brief ‘jump’ forwards.

However, the fault with the Aerplanar’s extremely aerodynamic structure is that it has a hard time fighting… anything. Its form, unmarred by claws, talons, or other manipulator appendages, relies solely on its jaws for combat. This means that the Aerplanar often needs to physically fly into its target (slowing down to a survivable collision speed first), smash its open jaws into the target, and then use its psionic boost to attempt to tear a chunk away and continue flight. In practice, this does not often work well. It is highly maneuverable, and likely more capable of air-to-air combat, but its shape makes fighting difficult to suicidal depending on the circumstance.

Aerplanar+
-Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential 3
-Description: The elite Aerplanar is only slightly larger than an ordinary Aerplanar, with its form primarily bulked out by increased armor and thicker chitin. This enhanced armor is offset by stronger psychokinetic potential, allowing it to maintain the same flight parameters as its parent despite its increased durability. The primary difference between the Aerplanar+ and its parent is its tongue - a long, flat, prehensile appendage where one side is completely covered in sharp, thick, keratinous fangs. When on the attack, the Aerplanar+ will extend and curl its tongue into a characteristic ‘buzz-saw’ configuration, flying just above the target to rake it with a slash of teeth rather than attempting to collide for a full bite.

On the ground this toothy tongue is used to compensate somewhat for the Aerplanar’s incredibly awkward motion, reaching and lashing targets in order to pull them toward the creature’s waiting maw.
MEDUSA EVOLUTION
Stymphalian Crab
[Efficacy: 2]
-Base Incidence Rate: 30%
-Evolution Chance: 25%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Stymphalian Crab+ 100%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 3
-- MUTAGENIC BOOST USED
-Description: The Stymphalian Crab is an unfortunate proof of the Omega Entity’s relative inexperience and immaturity with shaping. This particular Molt from the Medusa is one of constant disappointment - not outright failure, but it consistently performs below its expectations. The armor modifications of the Stymphalian crab are perhaps the only exception, with the small tailorings done to increase the surface area on lower sections to improve radiative cooling and the upper restructuring to allow its polyps to retreat to shade when not in use, both achieving their modest goals.

Its living ammunition is now very easily separated via controlled necrosis of the base tissue, rather than manual snipping, and the polyps are now aerodynamically shaped and hardened against frontal impact. However, some considerable difficulty was had both in shaping the spikes for flight, hardening them against the rigors of impact and launch, allowing them to eat as independent entities (as the Stymphalian does not have any other means of eating), and adding in the ability to both store and pressurize a choking gas cloud in useful quantities. The result is that they do all of these things poorly. In about a tenth of launches, the stress of launch kills the polyp early, triggering a premature detonation. In other cases, differences in stomach contents, anomalies in carapace formation, and general biology uniqueness result in projectiles that all of their own unique weight and deviance. The Stymphalian crab lacks both the senses and intelligence to dynamically adjust to the diverse projectile flaws, dramatically reducing accuracy at longer ranges. On impact, the gas payload is… lackluster. A direct impact that penetrates chitin still provides excellent damage, as a dead polyp will explode internally and a live one will chew internally until it dies, but external gas detonations provide very little toxic damage except in enclosed environments with still air. Even then, multiple impacts are required to create a toxic layer of sufficient thickness to suffocate even a baseline grub or put out a small fire.

The launch system has its own issues. The spring-tight coils of telekinetic energy used to impel the dart take longer to wind than hoped and the Stymphalian cannot alter the impact point greatly after the beginning winding. While this produces no additional difficulties for aiming, as small adjustments can be made, it means that directly punching entities using psionic strikes is both slow and highly inaccurate against moving targets. Its telekinetic manipulation is passable, but most anything larger and stronger than its own polyps will likely be able to fight free of its grip.

In short, the Stymphalian has excellent damage when it hits and penetrates armor, but it fires slowly and inaccurately, occasionally detonates polyps prematurely when firing, has limited gas dispersion ability, and its ability to directly strike telekinetically is best suited to very slow or stationary targets - or targets it can pick up or hold in place with its claws and pop like grapes.

Stymphalian Crab+
-Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential 4
-Description: Covered in wicked-looking thorned growths, the Elite Stymphalian crab gains a tri-lobed mouth system of mandibles and maxillae and its own independent gastric system. While this does mean that it is more vulnerable to toxic dietary infiltration than the Medusa, it does mean that it can support itself and simplify the biology of its polyps. Its polyps, for their part, are enhanced with a calcic-keratin internal ring structure, making them segmented and less flexible, but much more durable. Their own mouths and stomachs remain, but are vastly simplified and no longer filter toxic products, and instead merely give the Elite a way to support its progeny without leeching its own reserves to keep them alive.

These modified polyps are much more able to withstand their own internal pressures, modestly increasing gas load, are heavier and more likely to punch into enemy targets, and never break apart on firing. However, there’s only so much improvement that can be made. The elite is telekinetically stronger, able to fire the heavier polyp-darts with more force and a greater rate of fire, but no more intelligent. The darts are more accurate as a result of their restructuring, but the Elite crab is still a relatively inaccurate assailant, and its direct telekinetic strikes are still best reserved for very slow targets or ones that it can catch within its claws.
ROZER EVOLUTION
Zeever Spider
[Efficacy: 6]
-Base Incidence Rate: 30%
-Evolution Chance: 25%
 -Available Evolutions:
 -- Zeever Spider+ 100%
 -Mutagenic Potential: 3
-Description: Powerfully altered in form, the Zeever is an advanced builder first and foremost. Its ability to extrude strong and lightweight thread that can be psionically manipulated as it’s formed, in combination with the chitin plates provided either by its abdomen or lesser Rozers, make it capable of producing a variety of flexible and advanced structures, far beyond what any ordinary Rozer could create by gnawing and gluing plates together. As far as individual thread types, the sticky thread is the simplest, extruded principally as a basic building or trapping material. The high-strength thread takes considerably longer to produce, but is enormously difficult to cut or break via tension, used sparingly to strengthen structures and to create armor. The flame-proof thread, while an improvement over the foam-ceramic, still suffers from the same issues of thermal decomposition. When created in purely flame-proof mode, it can last a reasonably long time in high-temperature environments, but when mixed with either sticky or high-strength fiber types it will break apart rapidly due to its very limited interior area.

The ‘creativity’ of the Zeever is sufficient for creating many simple kinds of snares suitably for field use, as well as an extensive variety of light but strong structures. While an unexciting direct combatant, it’s quite capable of acting as a force multiplier by ensnaring the swarm’s foes and funneling attackers to be dealt with by more direct combatants.

Zeever Spider+
-Evolution Chance: NaN
 -Mutagenic Potential: 3
-Description: The Zeever spider elite has an enlarged abdomen relative to its predecessor, and features a trio of spinnerets. Each spinnerette is capable of manufacturing distinct thread types, and several specialized palps per spinnerette are capable of weaving a variety of hybrid threads from the trio of spinnerets, as well as assisting in the creations of long skeins of ‘cloth’ immediately woven from the spinnerets as they are produced. As a unique advantage over the ordinary Zeever, the elite is also capable of creating a variety of dyeing agents in its spinnerets, allowing it to spin a dizzying spectrum of color. These cloths are particularly valuable in providing layers of camouflaged padded armor and in disguising even grand traps built into the terrain.

[Draignean]

Turn Log
Design 1: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177893.msg8236228#msg8236228
Design 2: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177893.msg8238547#msg8238547
Design 3: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177893.msg8241756#msg8241756
Design 4: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177893.msg8245066#msg8245066
Design 5: http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=177893.msg8253695#msg8253695

Spoiler: Revisions Log (click to show/hide)

+Grub
Psionic Sight
Efficacy: 5 (5)
The weaving of an exotic neural bundle, quite similar to one within your own queenly mass, proves a challenging but worthwhile addition to the grubs. The psionic organ is quite limited, but provides an extremely basic Telekinetic / Telepathic sensory shroud that provides a grub with additional information within about 2-meters of its surroundings. The Telekinetic element is most useful for standard sight, manifesting as many thousands of thin strands of psionic energy that radiate from the grub and brush the terrain like whiskers. Such strands have very little ability to provide information within a solid object, and the range drops off dramatically based on density and physical interference. However, the psionic feelers can curve around obstacles, and thus provide sight without need line-of-sight. The TK element can provide information on the hardness, density, viscosity, or most other properties that could be gained by physically poking the material, but little else. The Telepathic element manifests less as a ball of whiskers and more as a periodic pulse that the grub emits, imaging its terrain and creating a picture based on that. While, theoretically, this ability could be refined considerably, the crudity of the grub's form means that it primarily functions as a weak and fuzzy form of elecrosense - one that is able to pick out other grubs with Telepathic sense much more easily. When not detecting other living or electrically active phenomena, this sense provides little detail, but is capable of penetrating non-metallic matter to a considerable portion of its sensory distance.


Brain Ganglia
Efficacy: 5 (3)
The change to a decentralized intelligence is quite smooth within the Grub. There's not exactly a lot that has to be moved around and granting it higher overall intelligence by adding a few extra ganglia here and there is a coup. The gains are extremely modest in terms of intelligence, but far from nonexistent when talking about a creature as unintelligent as a grub, and the presence of localized neural clusters has two important immediate benefits. One, the grub's reflexes improve as incoming nerve signals don't need to travel to a primary brain. For grubs this essentially translates to faster twitching and rolling around to deal with things that poke them, but it's an important change. Two, crushing the 'head' of a grub won't kill it. The disseminated neural structure means that several brains have to be destroyed before the grub is now longer able to manage its basic functions - but it does also mean that a lot more kinds of injuries can inflict brain damage and local paralysis.

This being said, the structure is less efficient than a centralized brain, as many redundant structures have to be completed in order to effectively gain the full benefits designs.

Hovering (Grub)
[Efficacy: 6 (6)]
With the psionic core already in place and the sensory ganglia fully disseminated, getting the grub to hover is surprisingly simple. The telekinetic feelers it uses to sense the area with gathered below its body and spread forcefully into many hundreds of prongs. By varying the force emitted by a given region, the grub can push itself through the air in any given direction. Going upwards is tricky, requiring the grub to perfectly balance force in all directions and extend the already tenuous psionic feelers. While it is possible for the grub to loft itself by about a meter, this is highly unstable, and grubs typically hover more than an inch above the ground.

Given the limited friction, this method of transit is quite quick (Grubs have been reported reaching shocking speeds of ~5mph) over relatively even ground when given adequate time to accelerate, but it is slow both the brake and gain speed. Given their rubbery robustness, grubs in soft terrain will often stop by cutting their kinetics and just nosediving - flopping for a meter or two before wriggling back to business. The ground below grubs, however, still needs to support weight, and thus travel over fluids is still impossible, and loose terrain will dramatically impact acceleration.

Improved Evolution (Grub)
[Efficacy: 5 (2)]
While the instructors your mother/self left for the grubs are clear, it’s also clear that the circumstances have changed since. While they changes you’re able to make to their diet are low-hanging fruit as far as improvements go, you are able to significantly increase the grub evolution rate.

Grub Evolution Rate: 50% ⟶ 60%

+Rozer
Heatproof Foamceramic Production
[Efficacy: 5 (5)]
The modification to Rozer glue is ambitious. The ceramic micro-structures within the slime foam are difficult to synthesize biologically, and while they can be foamed out with the existing slime, they aren’t capable of simply drying into a uniform material without some of inherit weaknesses of the original binding medium. As such, while the ceramic material is capable of insulating well, this very property of heat isolation causes the binding medium it’s embedded in to break down more rapidly due to the focused heat. It is more heat resistant than normal glue in extreme conditions, but still serves as an additive outer layer to standard structural glue. It does have significantly better thermal reflectivity than ordinary Rozer glue, making it highly suitable for coatings to reduce incident heating but it will slough off and decay over time. As physical armor, the ceramic micro-structures don’t form a tight enough lattice for it to be useful as a direct armor, but it does combine will with the chitin sheets that the rozer produces to form chitin armor plates with an ablative front layer.


Organelle Reprocessing System
[Efficacy: 5 (3)]
Modifying immune system structure of the Rozer in order to isolate, learn, and break down novel chemical agents and hazardous elements as well as ordinary organic materials is a serious challenge. Particularly in the case of novel chemicals which are actively killing the Rozer, destroying its tissues, and disrupting its biology, the adaptive part of the system requires the Rozer to actively take a break from digging and eating to process the new compound. While many compounds can be broken down, complex chemical agents and toxic elements frequently can only be sequestered in keratin and then left behind. The creation of an extrudable immuno-goop meets less success, as many of the biological processes needed to safely tease apart the molecular structure of hazardous waste requires an environment of controlled temperature and acidity, as well as access to living biological structures which quickly die outside the body. As a result, while the Rozer gains a robust and adaptive toxicity resistance, their slime is only capable of neutralizing relatively simple compounds.

+Aerplanar
Multi-Thread Psionic Core
[Efficacy: 7 (7)]
The already sub-divided neural ganglia make further parallelism tricky - but a few inspired re-weavings of the psionic core tissues enable each individual ganglia to operate on multiple distinct processes, more or less effortlessly. While this doesn’t increase the total strength the Aerplanar has available, it does mean that its psionic abilities gain greatly increased coordination and the ability to be used in multiple forms simultaneously without loss of precision or inefficiency due to attenuation of focus. At the moment, this translates to increased maneuverability as the Aerplanar can make off-vector microadjustments when pushing the air for thrust and can more easily shape and reshape the pressure beneath its wings.

Planar Lance
[Efficacy: 5 (4)]
The rework of the Aerplanar’s lance into a telekinetic weapon meets primarily with success, though with a bit of disappointment in the efficacy of secondary functions. In its primary attack mode, where the psychokinetic threads are honed to points before being impelled forwards, the threads can be effectively ‘fired’ to a distance of approximately 75 meters. Their points are needle fine and readily penetrate soft materials or thin layers of hard material,  such as the Aerplanar’s own layer of aerodynamic chitin, but struggle with harder and thicker armor systems. The panels grown and used by Rozer Elite, and the thicker armor of Medusa will often stop the threads, and the fine points means that very little attritional damage is inflicted to armor. Injuries inflicted by the lances have a very fine cross section, typically inflicting fatal damage by repeated penetration and laceration of vital internals. The lances will frequently cut their way completely to the other side of the target once they penetrate armor, which gives them an excellent chance of cutting something important on the way through. Accuracy with the lances is quite good, particularly when fired in tight strafing lines, but the rapid movement of the Aerplanar means that, unless grounded, it can really only fire ahead of itself.

Their secondary ‘punching’ function is, unfortunately, more lackluster in performance. While good for breaking delicate objections, such as glass or crystal, the inherent flexibility inherent to chitinous armor and metal means that the armor breaking potential is limited, and they lack the ability to penetrate earth to any depth significant for the creation of air holes. It does have some usage in providing a brute force method of pushing around an enemy whose armor can’t be lanced, but provides little direct damage.

+Medusa Crab
Medusa Psionic Regen
[Efficacy: 5 (5)]
Applying the existing functions of the psionic core to the problem DNA transcription protection and reinforcement isn’t really an option, since the cores functions were designed originally for much coarser functions than molecular-precision manipulation and sensing. This necessitates the adding new functionality to the cores, which consists primarily of a pattern checking system - effectively a very tiny ‘mold’ that the structure of new cells is checked against. If the cell passes, it’s allowed, if its internals fail to fit, the cell is destroyed and reintegrated. This, in conjunction with an increased presence of base cellular materials to provide raw buildings blocks, enables the medusa to increase its cellular division rate without fearing cancerous transcription errors.


Medusa Thermal Stilling
[Efficacy: 5 (4)]
Making things colder by adding energy, even in the form of psionics, is very very difficult. Once again, there is no existing function within the Medusa’s psionic arsenal which is capable of sensing or manipulating on a fine enough level to directly control temperatures - a feat which requires atomic precision in order to manipulate vibrational energy. That said, as the Omega entity is capable of adding an additional psionic functionality to the cores of the Medusa that enables it to modestly affect temperature gradients by altering thermal conductivity. While not a heat pump in the traditional sense, the result is a blanketing effect that can encourage heat transfer towards a particular location within psionic range. While not particularly potent, and easily overwhelmed by dense thermal masses, it is a first step.

[Taricus]

Locust

The hive awakens, yet it does not see, bereft of eyes and ears of which to sense and observe with. The locust is the first step from the caverns which have sheltered us until now. Or rather, the first wingbeat.

The Epidermis of the grub hardens into chitin, it's back sprouts wings with which to take to the skies and it's multitude of eyes form around two basins. This is a structure which gives us a reasonably resilient unit for reconnaissance, backed by impeccable senses and agility within the same rough size as the grub.

To further augment this, the Locust has six limbs, enabling to to shelter in bad atmospheric conditions and to feed. It's gastric system is, ingeniously, also made functional as a ranged weapon, however short the range, by being able to project it's vomit onto a target, ensuring that it is neutralised, unable to fight back and is easily rendered into nutrition for the locust or it's allies, and should it's bile prove insufficient, a pair of wasp-like mandibles gird it's mouth, enabling it to chew through toughened hide.

Unforgotten
Long ago, a foe once herded us here, killed us, separated us. They were not at all like us, girded in metal and plastic. Yet for all the hive's abilities, they brought us low. Perhaps there is strength in their form, and the unforgotten serve both as a reminder of that memory, and as a stepping stone to reaching back to the stars, and remembering those that drove us here.

Hence, the form of the Unforgotten takes is as an imitation of them, in our image; two compound-eye basins and a wasplike set of mandibles are placed on a structure akin to our former adversaries, a... 'humanoid' structure gifted with dexterous grasping hand-claws for grabbing and fighting, and sturdy feet-claws to ensure agility and stability in movement. But most important of all as a gift of intelligence; an ability to judge and react based on their surroundings beyond the simplistic thinking of the grubs they were born from.

Our former foes have not been forgotten, and the lessons learned from fighting them will not either.

[Rockeater]

Ptw

[dgr11897]

Noble Crab:
A four legged creature slightly larger than a Grub with two large claws that act as shields and can help it manipulate its environment to a degree, these are studded to improve their function as melee weapons. This creature has a carapace which is durable and not terribly reactive covering its surface, protecting it from corrosion and catching fire. Its main ability is to rapidly expel a cold (chilly) gas which doesn't react with anything, and is heavier than air. This gas is basically an anti-catalyst for most reactions and can impede corrosion and explosive reactions alike, along with fire. This makes the Noble Crab a walking anti-fire zone, and highly resistant to corrosion.

[TricMagic]

Grubling

The next evolution in the Grub line isn't fundamentally different from it's ancestor, but uses the resources it acquires through it's robust digestive system for a large ganglia spread throughout it's body with a central core as the brain. This gives it the ability to lift itself psionically and detect it's surroundings. While it can survive and rebuild it's ganglia, it's core needs to be preserved, and damage to the ganglia will result in weakened psionic ability until it is repaired or rebuilt. They are the first step for further evolutions that make use of psionics.


A step forward for the future.

[dgr11897]

Psi Worm:
A larger grub that has the notable power of being psychic. Specifically it possesses three key abilities. First off is how it can use a form of short range telekinesis to lift itself off the ground and manipulate small objects this is about a meter at max range. Its second key ability is a form of extra sensory perception, granting it the ability to see without needing eyes, which also lets it see some things eyes might miss 10 meter range. Finally, it can generate a Disruption Orb, a sphere of concentrated psychic power that distorts and rends apart things that enters its radius, appearing as a crackling orb of power which arcs off small bolts of psychic energy. The orb can go out about 3 meters, is about half a meter across, and is strong enough to kill a grub with half a second of exposure.
Rune Wyrm:
Minds great and small alike can oft perceive that there is more to reality than material and energy, that there exist things beyond our primitive understanding of reality. Every action, and every belief, it leaves a mark, an echo, upon the world. Call upon that echo, and you can bring what is closer to what was, recreating some fragment of the original's power. The first use of this principle is the Rune Wyrm, a creature moderately longer and slimmer than a grub, with dozens of legs to carry it around. Upon its flesh is carved a rune, bringing immense pain, through it the Wyrm calls upon the memories of life that this world once had, by sympathizing with its current pain. Around a Rune Wyrm, reality warps slightly, the air grows cleaner, toxins disperse, the ground grows more stable, and fires fade away. This effect isn't particularly strong, but it can help protect a force from the hostile environs of this planet, increasing survival rates.

[TricMagic]

Ing
The next form of the Grub, the Ing. Featuring ganglia throughout it's body, it has evolved five legs to a point, and covered in blackish chitin. The only exception is the mass of it's body covered in a sphere atop the legs, with an opening at the front. The Ing possesses psionic power that allows it to jump and glide great distances, or move quickly along the ground, walls, or ceilings. It's legs are sharpened to a point and can lift up to it's eye level to stab. It eats by spreading these legs to gain access to the mouth at it's bottom, which is connected to it's grub-like body where the central core of brain resides which controls everything. Or more commonly by jumping it's prey and grasping them. The chitin and the ganglia spreading into it can be regrown if broken, so long as the core body is unharmed. In the worst case scenario, it can also abandon it's chitin shell to hover and hunt that way or escape, and rebuild it entirely later on. It's primary method of perceiving the world is through it's psionics, which is mostly projected forward through the opening. It's size hasn't really changed with it's evolution, other than gaining height due to the chitinous legs.


Rozers

Rozers have evolved to have a super-efficient digestive system able to break down anything, along with the production of glue-like slime wih great strength once hardened and corrosion-resistant chitin. They produce a number of chitinous shapes based on the needs of the swarm, and can even use their own bodies into a resistant flesh form to seal holes and form doors. In fact, this is the main use for swarms of Rozers, forming structures from local materials they eat, before inevitably sacrificing themselves to finish the structure. It is not in vain though, for the structure designs can be adapted to the current needs and last a very long time. It will make exploration and pushing forward much easier. They are also by nature very good tunnel makers, being able to eat rocks and dirt to form caverns and use their hardened glue and chitin to support it.

[Talion]

Knot-Roller
A consequence of growing in a tight environment packed with newborn grubs. A compound egg composed of many initially separate seed cells that grow together into a single composite entity. The Knot-Roller resembles many grubs fused together into one voracious mass. It moves by having component parts flex against each other causing it to lift a section into the air and roll forwards in a tumble. The individual flexing of each 'leg' allowing it to lift itself over obstacles and hook on to terrain according to its present need in order to advance. Capable of ensnaring prey in its constricting grip before more slowly nibbling away with its many mouths.
The superior size and strength backed mass of the Knot-Roller allow Grubs to join with it on a more temporary basis to ride along to other locations at a greater speed than they would manage alone.

[Draignean]

Knot-Roller
A consequence of growing in a tight environment packed with newborn grubs. The Knot-Roller resembles many grubs fused together into one voracious mass. It moves by having component parts flex against each other causing it to lift a section into the air and roll forwards in a tumble. The individual flexing of each 'leg' allowing it to lift itself over obstacles and hook on to terrain according to its present need in order to advance. Capable of ensnaring prey in its constricting grip before more slowly nibbling away with its many mouths.
The superior size and strength backed mass of the Knot-Roller allow Grubs to join with it on a more temporary basis to ride along to other locations at a greater speed than they would manage alone.

One grub evolves into one thing, so just a clarification question: Is one grub evolving into a compound egg which hatches into many critters (quite thematically possible as long as the many critters are treated as 1 organism), is one grub evolving into one knot roller component which join together on the battlefield with other hatch mates?

[Talion]

One grub evolves into one thing, so just a clarification question: Is one grub evolving into a compound egg which hatches into many critters (quite thematically possible as long as the many critters are treated as 1 organism), is one grub evolving into one knot roller component which join together on the battlefield with other hatch mates?

The intent is a compound egg.

[TricMagic]

[Moderate]Rozers: (1) TricMagic

Rozers. Creatures that won't take up much evolution and allow the creation of fortifications and caves/tunnels to protect against the environment long-term. They will help immensely and means we won't need to worry as much about acids, sudden glassfire, nd old machines. They can dig into the ravine to form caves, build shelters in the desert, and unground bunkers for the badlands. Very Zerglike too. They also could have a decent next-form too in the case of moving fortresses. Though a revision to allow protection from spores for those inside the structures is more likely.

As add-ons.

Rozer Revision: Heatproof

Through an advancement in controlling material production for the structures they build, Rozers have developed the ability to form a heat-proof material. They can manipulate how the material forms to create one that resists all attempts to heat it, perfect for forming bridges over lava and protecting from any heat. Your mind comprehends it as the same result of some fine ceramics your old foes used to protect against heat it might face. Perhaps some memory of those times resides within your line.

[TheFantasticMsFox]

Hive: Absolution
We did not ask to be born or to be faced with the prisoner's dilemma before us. Driven by our growing hunger, we have no choice but to win the coming war.

Yet in our coming victory, we remember that we fight ourselves, and what mercy we can muster must be granted to our mirror-self.

And so our name is Absolution and we will carry their memory with us when we feast upon the stars.   

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Dont have any strong opinions on first evolution so far.

[dgr11897]

[Moderate]Rozers: (2) TricMagic, DGR

Rozers for the reason that they're a decently useful seeming design, which will likely come in handy in some way for most of our current situations.

[TheFantasticMsFox]

[Moderate]Rozers: (3) TricMagic, DGR, TFF

A solid base, though I do worry about needing a more combat-oriented form asap.