With the arrival of the Moon and the push to colonise the Mound's surface, the need for raw materials has boomed. Traditions regarding the exhuming of pre-Splash debris have been relaxed in recent years to meet this demand. While Ricketers work around the clock to break and repurpose old relics, many scholars and wizards have lead expeditions to delve debris pockets for powerful truths.
And amidst the ruins of Torrid in particular, there are only the remnants of war.
Upturned stone ziggurats, not just smashed by Splash but with inscriptions devoted to long-forgotten gods scratched away by malicious rivals.
Entire legions of soldiers fully clad in armour, crushed and scattered as fossilised sediment between layers of uncaring stone.
Unspeakable horrors hidden inside bunkers- weapons made by people too busy fighting to notice the doomsday coming for them all.
Torrid must have once been a very diverse world, home to many species. Etaimen, Bemoerd, Schwachling, Gorgbos, Quzsz, Elves, dozens and dozens more. Whether it was the 2nd Splash or other conflicts long before, very few of these species have survived into the modern day.
Jiquill
Jiquill have large, orb-like torsos- whose front is dominated by mouths which stretch side-to-side and beady little eyes. They have stout stubby legs and thick lanky arms, such that they almost drag their knuckles along the ground. Despite their size, their arms are surprisingly flexible thanks to the interlocking square bony plates along their length.
Their species is ovoviviparous- they produce eggs, which they then hatch within the host body of either parent via swallowing them. Once ingested the eggs will bury within the tonsils of the host parent as they mature- like little fetal tonsil stones, feeding directly from the surrogate's digestive tract.
While egg(s) are gestating, whatever vital essences are inherent to a newborn seem to influence the physique of the surrogate. The parent becomes bulkier and more muscular. Their wounds seal quicker. They need to sleep less. Their senses become more alert. The parent's bond with the children equips them to better defend them.
A normal gestation lasts around one year. When it comes time to hatch: the newborns will burst out from the chest, face, and throat of their surrogate, leaving them pock-marked with numerous tiny wounds. As such, primary parental rites typically lie with the surrogate of the offspring over any genetic parents.
However, a sufficiently strong-willed surrogate may also suppress hatching their eggs; keeping them from maturing and constantly enjoying the strengthening benefits of the children.
Many stories exist of power-hungry warlords, devouring clutches of eggs and struggling as much as possible to suppress their stirring with iron girdles, soothing tinctures, or swallowed needles. Such tales usually end a gory explosion of infants, and a horrible succession conflict.
Irassa
Lithe forms covered in insectile carapaces, Irassa look like armoured knights with numerous different colours and designs. The one feature which maintains consistent across every lineage is that their "helmet" has some method of opening- like a visor flipping up, a splitting double-door, or a flexing frog-mouth.
Inside of that "helmet" is a large mouth set into dark flesh, such that you can see a lip-less toothy maw. Inside that mouth is a massive sticky tongue, which can spring out to about 15 meters easily to grab and pull at things.
If you also were to inspect a little closer with a light, they also have really dopey tiny eyes and nose holes resting just above that. Irassa eyes are barely visible and also barely functional- really only decent at distinguishing where something is. Instead Irassa rely mainly on smelling & tasting to determine what something is. (e.g. might be able to see that there is a humanoid about ten meters away, but can't determine much else without a good sniff or tasting the air).
Irassa molt multiple times over their development, growing thicker chitinous plates. Despite their appearance these plates are no more protection than skin or bone can offer. This need not be the case though, as Irassa may ritualistically consume powdered metals and a specific diet to prepare their bodies and reinforce their carapace into actual armour. This comes at a cost though- as the process often results in loss of sensation, constant pain, sterility, organ damage, and a generally shortened life span.
Around a certain age: Irassa feel the call of mating season. They will follow their instincts to congregate with their fellows in the nearest appropriate swampy environments. Bodies morph by painfully and slowly shedding off their chitinous armour & skin. They enter a maddened state, overcome by unstoppable passions fuelling them toward one end: breed.
In most cases shortly after this, most Irassa die slowly from the blood loss and massive infection. To survive is rare, and usually only lasts for weeks or months. As such: Irassa are almost always raised by an Auntie or Uncle who hasn't yet heard the call to mate, or one who is forever clad in armour.
Kekkerek
Kekkerek are stout and stocky. Their faces are smooth and mask-like, with wide dark eyes and no mouth or nose. Instead their "mouths" are atop their heads, filled with spinning teeth which blend their food and drink.
To speak, they utilise a warbling sack on their throat which gives their voice a sort of raspy vibrato quality.
To breathe, they utilize tiny flappy holes which run like a seam across their bodies coronally. Most Kekkerek hold a fear of being submerged or covered, and suffocating.
Across their bodies Kekkerek can also grow fur which forms in completely chaotic patterns. Mostly naked aside from one coarse hairy blonde asscheek? Continuous blood red spiral growing from crown to toe? Rainbow checkerboard fur? All of these are completely valid fur configurations.
As a species, the Kekkerek are highly adaptable. Over just a few years their fur, weight, perspiration, and more can naturally acclimate to be comfortable in all sorts of environments.
A Kekkerek's genitals look sort of like a flower bulb made from scrotal skin. When aroused this bulb unfurls into a full fleshy flower with pistil and stamen, which is used to copulate. Once fertilised this flower will slowly transform into a hard hairy fruit, before (painfully) breaking off and hatching into a newborn Kekkerek. Eventually, the Kekkerek's flower will regrow in a painful and itchy sort of process.
Young Kekkerek are born fairly mature, like horses. This makes them basically tiny, stupid adults which can physically run around and throw shit and get into all sorts of trouble. Eventually as they mature they'll grow in size, lose their baby coats, and grow into their adult fur.
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| like yknow how medieval / early renaissance paintings of babies are just tiny adults? its like that |
Ranazog
According to oral traditions, there was once two interdependent species: the Rana and the Zog. The Zog were physical beings, made of flesh and blood, while the Rana were non-physical beings which bonded with them. In the 2nd Splash, all of the Zog died out while the Rana persisted. In honour of their fallen other halves, the Rana still carry their names as the Ranazog.
Ranazog reproduce eusocially. Each clan centers around one Rana of the breeding caste, who once every handful of years will give birth to a whole new generation of the clan.
A newborn Rana is a weak and pitiful thing- a formless, shapeless, gas-like mass. A stiff wind or a conductive material could easily kill them. So typically they are bonded as soon as possible with physical hosts, which have been selected by their elder Ranazog siblings. These hosts can be members of any other species on the Mound; which act as serviceable but not ideal hosts.
Once the newborn Rana has selected their willing host, they will be wrapped up tightly in many layers of cloth, so that you cannot identify the host's identity or species. Thus, a bond which may only be broken by death is sealed and the Ranazog is born.
Within a Ranazog, both consciousness may communicate and contribute harmoniously together. Physical injuries, emotional disorders, and many other deficits are smoothed over via this joining- which is why many hosts are willing to be bonded in the first place. Both shape each other to form something new.
Neenodal
Neenodal are quite long, about 2m on average, but they crawl close to the ground atop two dozen spindly lizard legs. Their faces are dog-like, but bony and skeletal with buck-toothed manic grins. Their snout ends in two tiny trunks, joined at the base. These serve as their primary dexterous manipulator.
A Neenodal's body is about as thick as your wrist, and it's flexible like a snake. They are covered in fine dense feathers, in a range of more earthy tones. Often when interacting with other species, they will curve their backs to match heights and let you stare into their jagged pupils.
Neenodal are an egg-laying species, however they do sport a fairly high-rate of parthenogenesis.
Among other species, Neenodal tend to be viewed as awkward and slow. Their noses struggle compared to hands, and they eat hard inedible garbage with their over-sized teeth. And yet, the Neenodal persist.
Embrana
Imagine a potato that's grown to roughly resemble a lumpy humanoid shape. That's more or less what an Embrana looks like. Despite their appearance though, they are NOT plant-like. Underneath that exterior is a ridiculous amount of sticky brown blood, and strange minuscule structures.
Their skin is their most vital organ, as Embrana actually eat through their skin by just sort of massaging food with their hands, or soaking part of their body in liquid food. Some Embrana will even pack their boots with food to absorb it while on the march.
Embrana also use their skin for echolocation. If you watch, you can see knots slowly coil and uncoil under it to produce the tiny sounds necessary for them to "see." When they need to speak, those same sort of flexes occur to clap out speech.
With a day or two of effort, an Embrana can go into dormancy. While dormant they still require air, however their aging and metabolism slows down so greatly that a healthy Embrana could sleep ten years and wake up only slightly malnourished (as if weeks had passed). If disturbed, an Embrana may be awoken from dormancy, however actually "waking up" takes another whole day or two.
Embrana do not engage in sexual reproduction. Instead, as an Embrana ages, they will sprout buds off of their bodies. If you inspect them closely, each bud is actually a little head which may eventually grow into a new Embrana. As these sprouts grow, the Embrana they are attached to will weaken and their consciousness slowly fade away. Attempting to remove these sprouts does not halt the inevitable decay.
Eventually the parent will fall where they stand, and the young buds will sprout and grow awareness as their host loses theirs. As they mature, they'll eat away at everything their parent was before breaking off and becoming unique individuals. Often they spring up carrying whatever scraps their parent had, before wandering off into society.
Zkyr
The main body of a Zkyr stands a little under a meter tall at the shoulder, but their long flexible necks extend about a meter taller than that. Since they constantly must crane their necks to look around with their serving tray like heads, they appear much shorter though. A Zkyr's head is mostly ear-like cartilage, and their faces have wide flat beaks which are barely visible when closed.
Zkyr do not have bones, only fluid-filled sacs. As such, their bodies are surprisingly squishy, even compared to other boneless species.
Biological females tend to display bright garish skin tones, while biological males tend to be a lot more muted tones.
In order to mate, a male Zkyr must tear off their genitalia and present it to a female. This organ looks like an elaborately-shaped sack- unique to each male- filled with curdled milk. The female uses it by simply inserting it into herself, where it will dissolve and eventually result in 1-8 offspring.
Under normal circumstances, a male Zkyr may only mate once ever. As such: traditional Zkyr romance is often a very long and involved process centered on the male really REALLY making sure they are completely and totally confident in their decision.
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