A World of Monsters. (An Encyclopedia on the creatures of the world of Null, Original Writing.)

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[The following is a digital page from the 'Armor's and Weapons Catalog, 149th edition'.]

Designation: Version 12, Model 'Oculon' Powered Armor, Oros Variant.

[Sketches depict an advanced set of powered armor, streamlined and designed with the image of a soldier in mind. The stock version possesses unit identification markings on the chest, pauldrons, and helmet, as well as a stylized image of the armor's namesake, an Oculon, on the back. The helmet posses a single large visor, spread across the eye region as well as 'spreading' down around the muzzle portion of the helmet with a pair of spoke like arms, not unlike a sideways capital 'K'.]

Power Source: Baraq Aleph Series Fulminite Generator. (Good for one month of continuous use before replacement or recharge.)

Undersuit: V-18 tech suit. 10% notable increase to strength, 10% notable increase to top speed. Optional runic upgrades where available.

Plating: V-4 Dragonscale powered plate. Reinforced Mithril Alloy capable of withstanding direct strikes from non-energy coated strikes. Vulnerable to Class 7 penetrating strikes and above. Optional runic upgrades where available.

Additional Features: V-8 Stun-Field generator, integrated, and hard points for armor-planted weapon systems including shoulder mounted launchers and forearm rail-guns.

Summary:​

The most recent edition of the Oculon model of Powered Armor, the V-12 Oculon retains the iconic visor design the series is designed for. This mono-visor is vaguely reminiscent of the Oculon spirit creature, a beast composed of a singular fiery eye surrounded by rocky material that opens and closes not unlike an ocular aperture. This visor is extremely durable, made of a diamantium based polymer. This allows it to be see through without compromising it's durability.

On the defense, the armor is comparable to the newer Wolf-Tiger series in most respects, though the armor's smooth contores and composition provide it with better elemental damage protection than physical contact. This allows it to better survive against energy and elemental blasts from a variety of sources, though physical and kinetic strikes have a likelier chance at damaging the armor than it would the Wolf-Tiger series.

Thruster systems are a relatively recent addition to the series, having been incorporated as part of the design since the V-10 model some centuries prior. Since integration, thruster systems prove to be as efficient as in any other form of Powered Armor with the feature.

Runes capable of being applied remains a feature in this armor set, allowing users to to augment and further amplify the suit's capabilities. Note, however, that as per the Runic Law of Age, the effects of the Runes will not be as powerful now as they will be later, though thankfully a runed V-12's modern capabilities and construction allows it to match older suits of runed armors, even pre-power armor suits.

Before the widespread adoption of the Wolf-Tiger series, the Oculon model of Powered Armor was the most widespread and used series of PA in the world. The reliability and well roundness of the armor for a variety of situations and damage types make it an excellent option in most combat scenarios. Its signature visor has always been known for the its aim assist protocols, which in the V-12 have been improved upon with a V-8 software system. While nowhere near as superb at aim assistance as the Arachnis sniper-specialized PA model, the Oculon offers a reliable means of insuring ones aim is rarely erring on a given target.

 

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Farcaller.

[Sketches depict a large, furred, semi-bipedal creature with elements of mammalian and theropod design schemes, with a hint of orinthropod thrown into the mix. Large, mammalian heads on the front end posses to massive, curled up horns that resemble horns that are blown into to make a sound, the horns leading from the side of the heads and connected behind the creature's nostrils. Sketches depict the creatures using these horns to make long distance calls to alert others of their kind through blizzards.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I used to have a mini reproduction Farcaller horn that I blew into. It was pretty cool, until it got taken away from one too many noise complaints.']

Scientific Name Translation: North Crier.

Average Size: Large-Scale Creature, Average of 15-18 feet/4.572-5.486 meters high at the top of the horn.

Average Weight: 20-27 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have larger, fuller manes around their necks compared to males.

Habitat Range: Cold regions, particularly the Northern Wastes.

Summary:​

Out of the many creatures in the Northern Wastes, few posses as memorable a design feature as the Farcaller. Large, herd-dwelling synapsid creatures, the Farcallers are furred behemoths that posses theropod-like qualities when on the move. However, when resting or feeding, their long and powerful forelimbs are used to put them in a quadrupedal stance, allowing them to remain in place for extended period of times. This is most often done during particularly brutal and cold ice storms when their herd huddles together for warmth and energy conservation.

The most notable feature of the Farcaller, and the tools of that give them their name sake, are their large, open horns. Starting with connections behind their nostrils, moving along the sides of their heads, and ending with openings extending upwards behind their scalps, Farcaller horns amplify and release their calls in out into the open. A similar, though distinct, process is found with the humble Apo, who used a fully enclosed system via their crests and release the sound back out through their mouths. The Farcaller's calls are used for long distance communication with others of their kind as well as to alert their near-by herds.

Despite the seemingly open ends of the horns, a closer examination of the interiors reveals a surprisingly complex series of bony structures as well as a wall of flesh at the end to prevent snow and other debris from falling inside. If this flesh is broken for whatever reason, it rapidly regenerates to close off the horn once again. Interestingly, this flesh seems to be a part of the amplification process, as its loss impacts the quality and volume of the horn's calls. [A note is attached. Sketches depicting an eye-patch wearing female Oros blowing into a Farcaller horn are shown, with the woman seemingly having a lot of fun doing so.]

The control at which the Farcaller has over its cries is great. The series of bony structures within the horn shift and alter themselves at will, allowing the horn to produce a variety of different sounding calls for a variety of situations. Local wildlife in the Northern Wastes have come to learn the meanings behind these calls and listen intently to them when they reach their ears. Some calls, such as those used for communication between distant Farcallers, is used to determine a source of fresh frost-plant life to feed upon, while others are used to determine if there is danger in the Farcaller's area. Any predator capable of being a threat to a healthy, adult Farcaller is a threat most other creatures would prefer to avoid at all costs, afterall.

In terms of offensive capabilities, the Farcaller posses a stiff, but powerful tail that it can use to attack its foes. The front limbs are relatively long and, while the claws aren't particularly sharp on their own, can breach unarmored flesh with ease due to the strength behind them. Their digits are also flexible enough to be able to grip unto objects such as rocks. They will grab and use such objects as a tool for their defense. If all else fails, and they face an armored opponents, the Farcaller can grip and yank off armored plating thanks to their great strength. Their back legs aren't the most articulated portions of themselves and are thus best suited for running. If needed, however, they can produce quick swipes and stomps to their sides. The hidden weapon of the Farcaller are their horns, which are able to produce a powerful sonic amplification that can rupture blood vessels and organs of creatures that are too close to them. [A note is attached. A sketch depicting a cartoony Farcaller producing a loud 'honk' in front of an arctic predator, loud enough to blow off the predator's flesh, leaving only the skeleton behind. The skeletonized predator has a speech bubble saying 'can you turn that down?']

Their temperament is on the edge of mercurial. While they do not go out of their way to attack Civilized Races, they are territorial and protective of their herds. As such, they will make threatening displays in order to warn off potential Hunters from getting too close, and are more than willing to gang up on Civilized Races if they refuse to leave peacefully. That being said, they can notice and move to avoid Civilized settlements at a distance, with many Icebreaker towns and cities having regular watch parties to observe the herds of large creatures move in the distance, provided the snow fall on that particular date is not too bad.

During less turbulent times of the year, however, Farcaller herds make long distance journeys in search of their primary food source, frost-tree leaves, though they can and will subsist on a diet of meat and permafrost dwelling lichen if these journeys do not take them to their food sources fast enough. When hungry, any meat they can safely consume is fair game, up to and including cannibalism of fallen Farcallers. This is often avoided where possible, however, as Farcallers are a species susceptible to prion diseases that make cannibalism a dangerous prospect for them, often leading to madness followed by death. Other predators of the region are either not affected by these diseases, or can safely detect and avoid the carcasses.

Being a herd based creature, rearing of young is a communal affair. Young Farcallers, aside from their comparatively small sizes to adults, are marked by a lack of their signature horns, due to them having yet to grow in yet. Young are often kept at the center of the herds for their protection, with older members being on the outside of the herd's composition. This ensures their safety from predators that may target them for an easy meal. As they approach adulthood, the young Farcallers eventually leave their birth herds when they are strong enough, venturing out to find a new herd to become a part of. When found, the new herds adopt the new Farcallers into their midst with relatively little fuss and ceremony.

In terms of relationships with Civilized Races, the Farcallers are a well known totem animal to the Icebreaker Nation of Oros. They are held in high regard due to meat, fur, and tough bones, all of which are still in use to this day. The Hunting Guild of the Northern Wastes has a special contract with the Icebreakers to provide them with Farcaller materials on an annual basis, while also protecting the herds that exist from unlawful poachers. This means that the only way to legally get access to Farcaller materials, whether it be meat or furred clothing, is through the Northern Hunting Guild and the Icebreaker government. If Farcaller material is found that lacks the stamp of approval seared into it, then the material is either counterfeit or unlawfully gained. Anyone who finds such materials can turn them into their local Median governmental office, or directly to the Icebreaker's governmental offices, if they are near by.

 

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Spider-Ant.

[Sketches depict a variety of dangerous insectoid beasts. The most common Worker caste possess three main body parts, the large abdomen and moderately sized thorax as well as a large armored head. The 8 legs are long and sharp edged, like blades. The head posses 8 eyes with black coloration, smokey white pupils. Its maw is like the hinged jaws of all Nullian insectoids, but with the addition of a pair of serrated mandibles on either side of the maw. Various other body plans of Castes are shown as well. Soldiers are larger and with dangerous blade like mandibles while Queens are immense barely mobile.]

Scientific Name Translation: Tyrannical Butcher-Bug.
Average Size: Varies on specific caste.
Average Weight: Varies on specific caste.
Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Most castes are non-reproducing females, while males act as Kings alongside the Queens.
Habitat Range: World-wide save the Heat Planes.

Summary:​

Of the wide variety of arthropodal beasts on the world of Null, few are as successful or as widespread as the Spider-Ant. Only the average, thumb-sized ants and bees are more successful in how widespread they are. This is most striking with the Spider-Ant, however, for there is evidence to suggest that they are not, in fact, native to Null. No fossil or genetic records shows their existence beyond a sudden arrival some fifteen million years ago. This is considered proof among the scientific community that the Spider-Ants are one of several species brought to Null by the mysterious 'Uplfiters', beings known to exist in the shadows of our world collecting specimens from across reality to add to Null's ecosystem. [A note is attached. It depicts a wedge headed cepholopod like creature lurking in the shadows, its tentacles resembling a heavy coat around it.]

Regardless as to their origins, the success of the Spider-Ant has made them a world-wide threat. The Spider-Ant is a vicious, brutally cunning beast, their intellect exceeding any other known arthropod. Their tunnel networks are vast and intricate, full of complex traps the beasts designed and set up to ensnare unwanted guests. This often renders the many wars fought against them dangerous endeavors, for every assault on their nests turns into a siege.

Indeed, the intellect of Spider-Ant makes combat against them not extermination of pests, but full on wars. They utilize traps, as previously mentioned, but worse yet in open combat, they corral and direct other animals to act as war beasts. Whenever a battle is met with the creatures, there is always some manner of other animal that has been direct to fight Civilized Races on behalf of the Spider Ants.

Many volumes can be filled with the complex social and psychological structure of the Spider-Ant. In fact, many such books have already been written. This is because such things cannot be understated, as it is their intellect that makes the Spider-Ant so deadly. Their size or other biological features are but instruments for this intelligence to use in their efforts for supremacy in the world. Furthermore, it is not in trap making where their intellect shines, but in how they make use of the resources of their world. Spider-Ants are one of the only creatures to perform sustainable farming methods, both with fungal growths they feed in the depths of their hives with the corpses of their slain enemies, but also livestock keeping. Namely, with the humble Mofu.

The 'Mofu Farms' are a truly ingenious, but thoroughly gruesome affair that helps show the lack of compassion of these beasts. Mofu are rounded up from the surface and brought into large, multi-decked chambers. Once inside, the work begins. The limbs of the Mofu are torn off and the wounds burnt shut. The now limbless Mofu are then force fed food to make their coats grow at a rapid pace. A cycle of feeding and harvesting begins from this point on, for the rest of the Mofu's life, with only an accident cutting said life short or freedom by a Civilized assault being the only means to end their suffering. [A note is attached. It reads 'I've said it before, and I'll say it again: This is beyond janked.']

Ironically, despite their intelligence, they are not very wise. They see the Civilized Races of Null as threats to themselves, a self-fulfilling attitude as their constant attacks and attempts to destroy the Civilized Races has resulted in unending war between the two forces. Thankfully, this lack of wisdom extends to different nests: Rather than work together, they constantly battle one another in order to establish supremacy. Indeed, many surprise assaults on Spider-Ant nests have seen Median Knights and Hunters find a battle already underway between different Spider-Ants. More than one hive has successfully been burnt to cinders thanks to this intercine conflict, sometimes without even needing Civilized intervention to set it ablaze.

Having said all of this, their biological features are also deadly in various regards of combat. Their sharp, blade like forelimbs allow even for the humbles Worker among them to cut through hardened steel with little difficulty, while they are also able to spit out a toxic, caustic material several dozen meters forwards. The 'spider' in their name is not merely a title. As with the actual arachnids, Spider-Ants can create a sticky web. Like with most Nullian spiders, they are also able to shoot out this web from their abdomen in order to capture prey at a short distance. This allows for even a Worker to tangle up Median soldiers and Hunters with little issue, thus requiring proper thought and strategy when confronting the beasts. The various Castes also have their own biological quirks worry about in a fight. Male Drones are winged and capable of sustained flight, while Bombadiers are specially bred creatures designed to act as living suicide bombs. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoonish 'Bombadier' that resembles a cartoon bomb on legs. A single word adorns it: 'boom'.]

Their chitinous armor is durable, capable of surviving constant indirect shots from Slugger and railgun infantry weapons while being able to survive a handful of direct shots from the former weapons. The larger Soldiers are even more durable and the titanic Tanks often require heavy weapons fire to reliably bring down. However, as with many insectoids, their chitin is covered by a waxy material that gives them their trademark sheen. And just with many insectoids, this wax is highly flammable. As a result, no matter what subspecies one is dealing with out in the world, Spider-Ants can reliably be put down by flame based attacks. As a result of this, the one place the Spider-Ants do not have a firm hold over is the Southern Heat Planes, though worrisome reports in recent years indicate a new subspecies with a very high resilience to high temperatures beginning to appear in this region.

The reproductive cycle is as straightforward as insectoids can get: A King and Queen act as the main breeders, creating a nest of non-reproducing young around them. Overwhelming evidence suggests that multiple sets of Kings and Queens work together to form full hives, though in all known assaults, only one pair remains behind to fight Civilized attackers while the others escape. It's highly likely that these are the original founders of the specific hive, and thus, are overwhelmingly territorial over it compared to the others that escape.

The precise means of determining what Caste is made from what larva is hard to discern, though there is evidence to suggest that the usage of some form of 'royal jelly', or perhaps a lack of usage, is what determines the Caste in question. Regardless as to the precise mechanism, numerous Castes have been recorded over the millennia. New breeds are raised over the course of many centuries of selective breeding, or perhaps even outright genetic manipulation through unknown means. All of them dangerous in their own right.

The Spider-Ant is a varied, dangerous threat, possible extraterrestrial or even extra-dimensional in origin. They are incredible hostile and devilishly intelligent, with a cruelty and lack of foresight that holds them back while still making them one of the most successful and dangerous insectoids on the face of Null. There has never been an event of 'pest control' with the Spider-Ant. When conflict between them an the Civilized Races occur, and it will always occur without fail, is war, with all that entails. In this modern day of the Walled Cities, many new and intricate methods have been developed to stop them from attacking from below ground. As a result, they now spend day after day, week after week, assailing the walls without end or success. Only with the complete eradication of this species will there finally, truly be a warless peace on the face of Null. Only time will tell how long they survive in the current era. [A note is attached. It reads: 'We've already brought one kind of monster to extinction. What's one more?']

 

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Apo.

[Sketches depict a Parasaurolophus like hadrosaurid creature, its crest armored and its upper lip with a brush like plate on the males, similar to an armored mustache. It is large in size, yet very peaceful going by there are no depictions of it in combat. Furthermore, they appear in mixed prey herds, standing on their hind legs to watch over their fellows and giving calls to alert them of danger. Several of the sketches also show them enjoying Null's apple equivalents, the Apas.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon Apo buried under a mountain of Apas, the head poking out.]

Scientific Name Translation: Watchtower Crest.

Average Size: 2-3 meters/6.56-9.84 feet high, depending on the creature.

Average Weight: 9-13 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females lack the 'mustache' plate males posses, and have flared armor sections on their crests..

Habitat Range: Across all known biomes, with subspecies for more extreme environments.

Summary:​

Only a handful of hadrosaurid species remain alive on Null in this day an age, a far cry from their plentiful nature over the millions of years. The most well known and famous is the humble Apo. A large but gentle creature, Apos are a common sight among large prey herds as well as old style farms, particularly herds whose compositions include Mofu and Oliphants. This trio of creatures makes up the image of a prey heard in the minds of civilized Races the continent over.

The Apo receives its name due to the sheer love of apas they posses. Indeed, one can argue that the creatures are addicted to the taste of wild apas to the point where some predators have learned to stalk around wild apa groves in order to take down wayward Apos seeking them out. Early Civilized Races used the Apos to track down and find these groves of wild apas, fruit that was plentiful and more easily eaten than some of the other more common wild fruits of the world at the time.

The origins of the Apo is one carefully cataloged in the fossil record. Evidence showed the first modern Apo appeared no less than 1.2 million years ago. The precise reasoning for why this is is unknown, but it is believed due to the precise physical similarities between the original Apos and their modern day descendants, it is believed that they were similar in attitude and temperament. Further fossil evidence with Oros ancestors indicates that early Oros precursors lived alongside the creatures, with the earliest known examples of cave paintings showing they were hunted in early times alongside other prey animals of the era. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch of an Apo nuzzling an ancient Oros hunter who can't bring themselves to kill the creature in question.]

As with all still living hadrosaurids, the Apo possess a distinctive crest over its head, long and curved with additional plating at the front giving it a slightly flared look when looked at from straight forward. The crest for the Apo is hollow, and contains passage ways for air to move through. When this occurs, the Apos can produce a deep, distinctive call that can be heard from miles away. Furthermore, the bone and armor that makes up this crest is fairly durable, allowing it to weather blows during an attack. Should the crest be broken, however, it takes anywhere from several weeks to two months to finish healing back up, the dense bone knitting itself back into place over that prolonged period.

In terms of defenses and offensive capability, the Apo is fairly lacking in most departments. They lack armor plating, their flesh is of average toughness, their limbs, while strong, are not adept at attacking, and they lack claws save blunt ones meant more for digging than attack. Their tails are long and with a strong base, allowing them to theoretically use them as whips against hostile creatures.

In practice, Apos are gentle creatures that avoid conflict when possible, much of the fighting in turn being done by the Oliphants of the herd. That being said, if an Apo sees one of their young in danger, they will unhesitatingly charge in to attack with a headbutt, their tough crests more than built to survive the assault and their necks surprisingly reinforced for such an occasion.

In terms of attitude, the Apo is highly unusual among Null's life forms. It is a non-aggressive creature that is actively peaceful and friendly towards other creatures not attempting to kill them. Wild Apos are even known to nuzzle their heads against Civilized Races that they come across. As a result of their peaceful demeanor, and their actively helpful attempts to protect their mixed prey herds, the Apo was one of the earliest creatures to be domesticated for farming. [A note is attached. It reads 'It's true, I've even seen some nuzzle predators that weren't trying to attack them when they didn't have herds to protect.']

Unlike the Oliphant and Mofu, however, both of which are harvested for their milk and meat and meat-wool respectively, the Apo is not slaughtered for its flesh. Indeed, Apo's are considered one of the 'Holy Few', and as a result are treated like sacred animals. Amidst the remaining conventional farms in the world, they remain the faithful watchmen to their fellow creatures as they had been for millennia, only their unfertilized eggs being taken for consumption. When an Apo is dying of old age, it is tended to until its passing moments, at which point select cuts of flesh are harvested for sacred meals while the rest is ceremonially cremated.

When the mating season occurs, Apo parents raise nesting sites in order to lay and guard clutches of dozens of Hamperball sized eggs. After a gestation period of only a few weeks, the eggs hatch, and young Apos are immediately ready to join their parents' herds as they begin to migrate at the end of the mating season. Due to their relatively small sizes and little built in defenses, young Apos are at the complete mercy of the world and are thus under constant watch and protection from their parents. An unusual trait of their species is that fertilized eggs are marked by yellow rings going around them at regular intervals. Unfertilized eggs posses rings as well, though they are a dull orange instead. Domesticated Apo females semi-regularly produce unfertilized eggs all throughout the year, making a slow but steady supply of these luxury goods, though hardly enough to remove the supply and demand of the Blue Forest Fowl. [A note is attached. It reads 'Hamperball instead of Basketball, Blue Forest Fowl instead of Clucken. Yup, this guy be old.']

A common sight among mixed prey herds, Apos are a well known and beloved sight in the world. Peaceful and calm, actively protecting their fellow prey animals, Apos are a protected species across the various Oros Nations of the Median. This recognition is such that they are one of the creatures selected to be part of the Royal Gardens in the Mediator's Crimson Palace, the creatures of this particular herd being treated like royalty while being adorned with priceless cloths and gems. Few beings on this world are as deserving of such treatment as the humble Apo.

 

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Clucken.

[Sketches depict an avian fowl similar to a chicken. Where a Chicken is short and rotund, however, the Clucken is taller and proportionately slimmer, with strong musculature beneath its feathers. Its eyes seem to be in a perpetual glare and its comb and wattle are less like fleshy extensions and more like armored sections for the head and neck respectively. The standard species possesses a distinctive blue coloration to their feathers, making them blend in with the Azura Lowlands they hail from.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a cartoonish depiction of a Clucken, eyes pointing in different directions as it gives a bawk. A speech bubble even says '[Enraged bawk]']

Scientific Name Translation: Rage Fowl.

Average Size: 3-4 feet/0.91-1.2 meters tall.

Average Weight: 20-45 pounds/9.07-20.41 kilograms.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: None, hermaphroditic single-sex species.

Habitat Range: Continent wide, subspecies for extreme environments.

Summary:​

Out of all of the livestock creatures known and kept by the Civilized Races of Null, none match the ferocity and pure, raw rage of the comparatively diminutive Blue Forest Fowl. Not even the gruff and frequently annoyed Oliphant or the viciously brutal Gobbler can match the sheer amount of unrefined fury bound to these creatures' hearts.

Some arguments exist as to the reason for this rage. The most common one that modern science has had some proof to support is that the Clucken, as they are commonly known by today, are of enough intelligence to recognize their lowly place in the food chain and thus feel a vindictive fury as a result. Research shows that Cluckens bred in the wild recognize threats to themselves when they are alone and attempt to avoid conflict, but when a predator is weak or otherwise unable to defend itself, the Clucken moves in to hassle and attack the unfortunate creature in question. Indeed, Clucken completely raised in captivity, while still having a notable attitude, are notably more docile and less violently aggressive towards races they normally show nothing but vindictive vengeance towards. [A note is attached. It shows a sketch of a Clucken pointing a wing towards a Wolf-Hound, the words 'jank him up' coming from her in a speech bubble.]

In terms of natural weaponry, the legs of a Clucken are muscular and powerful, their feet tipped with razor sharp claws and both those and their beaks being hard enough to be comparable to military grade metal. The claws are further made deadlier by a coating of plasma energy, used to better slash through the tough flesh of any prey animals they come across in their roaming flocks. It is said that they posses caustic venom as well, though closer research reveals that this is an uncommon mutation usually only seen in the wilds. They posses limited flight capabilities, though this is usually reserved to reach higher vantage points rather than attempt true flight.

Standing at a maximum of 4 feet tall at the top of the comb, the Clucken are swarming creatures in the wild. The dominant one among them leads the rest of the flock through a combination of superior experience and bullying behavior. While individually rather weak, even compared to similarly sized creatures, the Clucken can be surprisingly coordinated in their swarming tactics, using their superior numbers to bring down larger prey under a hail of slashing, plasma coated claws and pecking beaks. The complex hierarchy of the flock then sees the dominant member and her lieutenants taking their pick of the meat first, before the rest of the flock consumes the rest. The lowest members are often left with little more than scraps and whatever edible foliage there is in the surrounding area to feed from.

While Clucken raised in captivity also display a notable hierarchy, the literal pecking order is known for being more relaxed and discipline and bullying behavior less frequent as a result. This is considered an oddity among researchers as common sense would dictate that such displays would be reversed, as cooperation is vital for continued survival in the wilds for such comparatively weak creatures. Closer inspection of the wild hierarchy reveals it to be much more complex than initially thought, the specifics being evaluated in a variety of books on the subject of the Clucken.

The basics of the flock hierarchy is generally as follows: At the top is the lead hen, the strongest and most experienced of the adult Cluckens. Below her are her lieutenants, mates to her that enforce her rule and are themselves the next strongest in the line. Should the lead hen perish, the surviving lieutenants would regroup to safety along the rest of the flock before fighting amongst themselves for supremacy, the strongest taking over as lead hen and taking on the others as her subordinate mates. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon pair of cluckens wearing boxing gloves fighting each other, words reading 'Battle to bang'.]

Below the lieutenants are their respective children, who follow their mothers for several years before breaking off to search for new flocks to join, either as leaders themselves or bested to become lieutenants. At the bottom of the pecking order are the outsiders, elderly hens who have survived long enough toe be weakened by old age and thus serve at the bottom of the hierarchy. Most are battle scarred to the point of having few feathers left on their faces and torsos, and are used as bait by their fellows for their traps and ambushes against other creatures.

Among those raised in captivity, strength is respected but not the end all of the hierarchy as it is in the wilds. As such, combined with the safer nature of the farming centers, many city-flocks maintain their oldest members as a form of council to take experience from by the current generation through their complex series of bawking and clucking sounds, similar to a proto-language.

There is no set mating season among the wild Cluckens. Unlike most other pure avians, they do not lay eggs when fertilized, but rather spawn small broods of chicks. Eggs are laid in clutches on a semi-frequent basis, but are always unfertilized and are little more than a way to shed excess biomass when food is plentiful. The lead hen mates with her lieutenants, making them the source of the young in their flock, though usually only one or two at a time in order to ensure that there is always several active and dangerous members ready for combat. Bullying behavior to maintain control and dominance increases in a descending order, leading to an exponential increase from lead hen to outsider hens compared to her mates and offspring. [A note is attached showing a cartoon crowd of Cluckens. One of them is standing up, a feathered fist raised and shouting 'Yeah, screw old people!']

In captivity, Cluckens are less pressured to reproduce to keep up their numbers, thus when combined with their regular and plentiful feeding, egg laying is much more common. An average Clucken egg is usually 3-4.5 inches in length and 7 inches in circumference, with a weight of 144 grams, making a handful an excellent source of protein and nourishment.

Cluckens make a staple food source the world over. As is tradition in places that still practice slaughter to get their meat [instead of in-vitro production common in the modern day], when the time for meat harvesting occurs, an Oros with a dagger fights the livestock animal in question to give them an honorable death, and a chance to fight with dignity. Cluckens are special creatures as, to make up or their comparative weakness individually, they attack the Butcher in flocks. Many fully cooked Clucken roasts have a distinctive puncture wound in their sternum directly over their heart, corresponding do the traditional kill blow given to them during these combat sessions. Notably, while all animals killed in this method face their deaths with dignity, the Cluckens seem to accept their fate with an almost grateful fervor when the killing blow is done, perishing in a surprisingly peaceful manner for such a rage filled creature. [A note is attached. It depicts a very well done sketch of a fallen Clucken, the words 'Rest in Peace' over the body.]

These hermaphroditic fowls are a very common sight in portions of the wilds and in the farming community, still having a place even in this age of vat grown meat due to their ability to generate large amounts of eggs at a time. Some of Cluckens with milder dispositions have even been bred to serve as pets in some places, acting as faithful companions much in the same way a dog or Mimic Moth does for most other individuals.

 

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[A brand new holographic poster is shown, depicting an upcoming video game. The game is stored on a small cartridge like device, with small print next to it claiming it carries up to a terabyte of storage space. The game proper appears to be a 16-bit RPG with a turn-based combat system and features anthropomorphic versions of Nullian animals as the player characters in a fantasy adventure. Writing in certain areas of the poster reads as follows: 'Play the exciting conclusion to the Falling Cinder Quadrilogy, featuring over 20 hours of story quests and dozens more of side quests, with the choices you've made in the previous installments coming to a head! Also included are the previous games of the series, for even more exciting adventure for those who have yet to pick it up! Only 45 Dollups!']

-

[A simple conventional poster is on display, depicting a three data-cartridge set for a show called 'Starshine'. It seems to be about the adventures of a crew of Nullian explorers and the various alien peoples and threats they encounter along their journey. The show seems to comprise of three separate series, the original and two sequels, each several seasons long. Words follow on the poster: 'The whole series, now yours to own for only D100.']

-

[An advertisement poster for another video game is on display. It depicts an Oros Magi of the Magi Order in their full armor firing a shotgun towards tentacled horrors trying to grab them on the platform they're on, while a fellow Magi runs towards them in the background, arm outstretched. Words read 'Final Pact, HD Edition. Coming soon.']

-

[A written advertisement follows. 'Chimera wanted for government research. Must be healthy, have mothered at least one set of offspring, be of respectable mental fortitude, and not have any plans for the next two decades. For more information, contact 707-4501-813. Payment starts at D50,000, price negotiable.']

-

[A video PSA follows, depicting a blocky but tough looking cellular device. 'The next upgrade for Comm. Bloks will be available this coming Hamaday. Visit your nearest government office on Hamaday, or at your earliest convenience if you cannot make it at that time, to receive your complementary upgrade. This has been a public service announcement from the Chamber of Public Communications, we will now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.']

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is a transcript from a pamphlet detailing the latest version of the Maddock Industries V-10 of the Hammer family line of Slugger weapons.]

[Several illustrations of different, but related in design, weapons are shown.

The top most one is an assault-rifle style weapon, approximately 100cm's in length. It is a mostly boxy, dense looking weapon designed to fire 12.7mm Slugger micro-rocket rounds while being a solidly built and dependable weapon for close quarters brawls. The magazine is straight and angled back towards the user, and placed directly in front of the angled trigger guard. It holds 64 rounds in a duel-stacked, two row design holding 15 rounds per stack, leading to 30 rounds in the front and back rows. 4 additional rounds are slotted in the thinner portion of the magazine meant to be inserted and locked into the gun proper, holding two rounds in a single stack and having two rows. The barrel is rounded compared to the blockier and angled top portion, which is rigged to allow for placement of optics and other attachments. The grip is also comparatively rounded and rubberized, for ease of gripping. The stock juts out the back and comparatively small, but adjustable, allowing for a range of users to be comfortable using it. The electronic's suite is a slit at the back of the top portion, above main body assembly, displaying ammunition, range to target, and feeds ballistics information into the user's armor as well as whatever network the user is a part of.

The middle most weapon appears to be a DMR style sniping weapon, being about 95cm's in length. It is boxy like the assault weapon, but is not as dense and has a smoother finish to it's plating. The barrel, which is rounded like the assault rifle's, appears to be meant for firing a larger, 15mm round. The Magazine is straight and staggard stacked, holding 20 of the larger rounds. The stock is thicker and fixed, while a factory issue sight is attached to the main body, an ammo read-out suite located directly under it. The sight seems simple on first observation, but illustrations of looking down it reveals a high tech and data-rich sight that shows trajectory, effects of elements such as wind and gravity, as well as total ammo left and even seems to have a built in feature to show vulnerable sections of the enemy.

The third and final weapon is a heavy pistol design, with the magazine similar in design to the assault rifles: In front of the grip's trigger guard and angled backwards towards the user. It seems to hold approximately 18 .50 cal rounds within it's double-stacked design. Overall, the design elements are similar to the rest of the shown family of weaponry, with an thin but readable info display at the back of the top-barrel shroud and a rounded barrel inbetween boxy and angled plating. The bottom portion seems to have a laser sight built into the electronics held within the plating under the rounded barrel.]

Maddock Industries is proud to present the new V-10 of it's Hammer series weapons line. The Jackhammer Assault Rifle, Sledgehammer Designated Marksman Rifle, and Pinhammer lines have all been updated with new Mithril composites and alloys in their construction, increasing their durability for when one needs to use them in melee. Updates have also been made to the electronics suites as well as the attachment points, allowing for increased options during combat, and the modern version of our tried and true self-maintenance systems keeps them operable up to a month on the field without hand-maintenance! Order now, and receive a complementary paint-job to your specifications as well as several decals to adorn your weapons as you see fit. Pricing remains the same for these new updated weapons:

Jackhammer-D345

Sledgehammer-D350

Pinhammer-D90

Buy Hammer, and crush the opposition! (Specialist ammunition prices separate, free government issued munitions available at nearest Militia outpost within your area. Store firearms unless needed as per governmental guidelines and follow safety protocols on pain of suspension of usage of firearms. Remember, advanced weaponry is a privilege, not a right.)

[A note is attached to the pamphlet, reading 'Hammer's always made solid guns, literally! Total pain to take apart for monthly maintenance, though.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Killapede.

[Sketches depict a large, centipede like creature with multiple forms. All the forms have a singular pair of glowing eyes, long sharp mandibles like blades, and segmented chitinous armor that interlocks to protect their segments fro damage. The bigger they are, the rougher and spikier their armor becomes.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Things that scuttle are creepy. These things have dozens of legs, so that makes them super creepy. It's basic creepy-science.']

Scientific Name Translation: Many-Formed Killer.

Average Size: Ranges from 15-70 feet/4.572-21.336 meters, depending on what stage of the life cycle it is on.

Average Weight: 2.3-35.5 tons, depending on stage of life cycle.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have bristled antenna while males lack bristles.

Habitat Range: Rain-forests and wet lands.

Summary:​

There are tens of thousands of species of arthropods on our homeworld of Null, across land, air and sea, and many thousands more subspecies and variants therein. Of these, one particular species has come to thrive in the wetlands and rainforests of the continent of Arisa. Long and segmented, with a pair of legs for nearly every segment, the Killapede is a fierce and well armored killing machine. It's deadliness is only compounded, however, by the fact that as it increases it's success in hunting and survives battles, it grows ever larger, eventually changing into a similar but deadlier form. Each form is dubbed with a new title, which goes as follows: Killapede, Murderpede, Butcherpede, and Slaughterpede. Some chuckle at the perceived childishness of such grim names. No one laughs when facing a 70 foot long horror with meter long mandibles and electrified acid spittle.

As previously mentioned, the Killapede line possess multiple forms. The first and most common form is the Killapede itself, a creature that is roughly 15 feet long and who is armed with pair of long, razor sharp mandibles and a toxic, corrosive spit it can launch in a spray for several seconds at a time. It is at the weakest in this form, with its chitin being bullet proof but still susceptible to infantry armor piercing weapons. A well placed shot from an anti-tank rocket is more than enough to cut one of these horrors in half. Its armor covers all of their segments and is interlinking, providing cover for the otherwise armorless intersections between the segments. This interlinking is not, however, flawless: A well placed shove of a spear or a blade can slide in and pierce the flesh below, if one is willing to fight one up close.

The next several forms see an increase in size, durability, and overall deadliness as new abilities are gained. The Murderpede form sees a size increase of twice that of the Killapede, at 30 feet long. They gain the ability to conduct an electric current, which they infuse their corrosive sprays with in order to electrocute prey hardened against both toxins and acid. Butcherpedes increase to roughly 40 feet long and their liquid spray ability is altered to instead fire a sticky, viscous glue like substance that in addition to the previous abilities helps bind and slow down all that is hit by it. The final form, the Slaughterpede, jumps to a 70 foot length and its electrical ability has evolved to be able to be produce an electric field all over its for a limited time, one powerful and accurate enough to effectively act as a point-defense shield, melting both rail slugs and detonating Slugger rounds that attempt to bypass it. By the time they reach this size, it is recommended that field teams do not engage, and instead call in support from Stormcutter Gunships in order to deal with the threat. [A note is attached. It reads 'Giant creepy crawlies that get even more giant. What a world.']

Despite popular myth, Killapedes are not, in fact, the juvenile form of the later stages. Adult Killapedes are naturally 15 feet long, and the advanced forms are the result of some form of mutation that increases their deadliness to unprecedented levels. Unlike other creatures with similar ability, researchers believe this is not the result of radiation induced mutation at some point in the species past, but a mystical genetic fluke that naturally occurred that managed to find its way into the species genepool. The fact that the specimens of later forms remain healthy and potentially live indefinitely as with most life on Null rather than dying sooner or later due to flaws in the changes only compounds the evidence for this being a natural, if horrifically unprecedented, evolution. [A note is attached. It reads 'Nature is reliable like that. Just when you think it's done making horrors on purpose, it one ups itself without trying.']

As arthropods of such sizes, the Killapede line possess fully functional sets of lungs. Several sets, in fact, across its upper segments closer to the head region. This allows them the ability to hold their breath when underwater for extended periods of time. Indeed, they often spend long periods of time swimming through water or crawling along in river beds to get to prey or to bypass predators that would be a threat to them. This makes crossing bodies of water in rainforests and wetlands a hassle, as more than one unit of Hunters or soldiers have literally stumbled into a river-passing Killapede due to not being able to notice them due to brackish waters.

When hunting prey, Killapedes and their variants tend to open up with a sneak attack with their sprays. Those that survive intact and do not run away often are then met by the 'pedes with their elongated and obsidian sharp mandibles, blade like extensions that are upon modified front legs that are capable of, and have indeed in managed to do, duels between themselves and other blade carrying individuals. Butcherpedes and Slaughterpedes that manage to find somewhere large enough to hide in use their new-found goo sprays to store prey for later consumption, often leaving their layers inky goo covered places that can leave those not expecting to walk into a pool of the substance to become stuck.

When mating season occurs, males meet first in places that have in previous years proven excellent locations to call for females. Males then proceed to battle one another, often dueling with their mandibles, for the right to control that particular stretch of territory for the duration of the mating season. The victors then proceed to call out for females and must often fend the location from hostile elements. When a female does arrive, no further actions are needed to commence mating: The male that manages to hold the location until her arrival has proven his capabilities. Parents then share responsibilities in guarding their eggs, often switching roles between guarding the nest and hunting. Interestingly, Butcherpedes and Slaughterpedes rarely if ever engage in reproductive behavior. Given their comparative rarity, it is likely a result of there being too few suitors to mate with than as a change in their instinctive drives, though research is still being done by scientists to determine the truth.

At the end of the day, Killapedes are another monstrous animal that those living in the regions they exist in must learn to live with. Members of the Bughunter Nation take a particular interest in hunting the beasts in their Killapede forms, as they are small enough at this stage that armored cloaks made from their heads and upper segments can be created for their use with ease. This makes the Bughunters the most common, and arguably naturally occurring main predator of, the Killapede line of creatures, keeping their numbers in check lest too many Butcher and Slaughterpedes appear. [A note is attached. It depicts a well done sketch of a Bughunter Oros in Killapede armor hunting and felling another Killapede by piercing it's head with a spear shoved between the armored plates.]

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is a digital page from the 'Armor's and Weapons Catalog, 149th edition'.]

Designation: Version 3, Model 'Arachnis' Powered Armor, Oros Variant.

[Sketches depict an advanced set of powered armor, streamlined and designed with what seems to be stealth in mind. The stock version is a sleek armor system with few if any sharp edges, the edges it does have being curved to reduce detection signature. The helmet lacks a visor, instead having 8 dot like camera-eyes, four on each side of the face, two stacks of two side by side eyes on a slanted placement over the bottom set. They are small and beady, almost disappearing in the base armor's black coloration.]

Power Source: Baraq Aleph Series Fulminite Generator. (Good for one month of continuous use before replacement or recharge.)

Undersuit: V-18/s tech suit. 10% notable increase to strength, 10% notable increase to top speed. Shadow-weave threads reduce sensor signature and power draw from stealth systems. Optional runic upgrades where available.

Plating: V-2 Stalker powered plate. Reinforced Mithril-Umbrum Alloy capable of withstanding direct strikes from non-energy coated strikes. Vulnerable to Class 5 penetrating strikes and above. Addition of Umbrum ore in alloy reduces sensor signature and power draw from stealth systems. Optional runic upgrades where available.

Additional Features: V-8 Stun-Field generator, integrated, and hidden hard points for armor-planted weapon systems including shoulder mounted launchers and forearm flamethrower units, as well as a forearm mounted hidden grappling line launcher as standard. Self-repairing Skulker smart-paint layer allows for automatic and passive stealth capability via mimicking the coloration and texture of surrounding environment. Internal hard-point for an Umbra-Bet type active camouflage generator available in base model, but not installed by default.

Summary:​

The newest iteration of the Arachnis Stealth and Recon PA System model line, the V3 has seen many major upgrades over their predecessors, including have a self-repairing Skulker smart-paint layer on the outer coating as standard for the current model, rather than an add on feature as it was in the previous generation. Due to the time and manufacturing costs associated with its production, the Umbra-Bet active camouflage generator continues to be produced on an as needed basis and installed in suits as required.

On the defensive side of things, the Arachnis's stealth oriented nature and the nature of the plating used results in it being less capable in protecting against melee based attacks than other, more direct-combat oriented armor systems. The curved nature of much of the armor, as well as ablative materials used in its construction, provide it with impeccable protection against energy and chemical based attacks. As a once unforeseen consequence of the addition of Umbrum into its alloy make-up, the Arachnis continues to posses excellent protection against ranged weapons fire, be it slugger or even non-armor piercing rail rounds.

Thruster systems are a relatively recent addition to the series, having been incorporated as part of the design since the V-3 prototype several decades ago. Since integration, thruster systems prove to be as efficient as in any other form of Powered Armor with the feature, though the stealth oriented nature of the suit leaves a notable 4.5 milisecond delay compared to the thruster systems of 'battle-ready' suits such as the Devestis or Wolf-Tiger lines.

Runes capable of being applied remains a feature in this armor set, allowing users to to augment and further amplify the suit's capabilities. Note, however, that as per the Runic Law of Age, the effects of the Runes will not be as powerful now as they will be later, though thankfully a runed V-3's modern capabilities and construction allows it to match older suits of runed armors, even pre-power armor suits.

Once a test-bed suit for infantry scale stealth systems, the Arachnis quickly became the world's leading stealth oriented power armor. With nearly every facet of it devoted to maximizing it's stealth capabilities, the addition of a Umbra-Bet active camouflage unit into the armor provides it with complete visual, auditory, and sensory cloaking capabilities that make it impossible to find short of dimensional-piercing sensory capabilities. This, in addition to the armor's extremely advanced and fine tuned helmet systems which provide unparalleled aiming support functions, make it the armor of choice for snipers and stealth focused Hunters across the whole of the Median*.

*Warning, due to the imperfections in consumer grade Umbra-Bet stealth field generator, firing of a weapon such as a Slugger or Rail weapon can disturb the stealth field, causing it to momentarily 'flicker' and potentially reveal the location of the user. Further imperfections also result in the stealth field not being operable for longer than half an hour at a time, following another half hour to recharge. Quick movements such as sprinting, leaping, and rapid melee combat can also briefly destabilize the stealth field. This has been your Median mandated safety warning on the usage of the Arachnist suit and its Umbra-Bet stealth field add on.

 

[TripleMRed]

Jaco Killer.

[Sketches depict a massive mantis like creature, its upright torso reaching 15 feet high, not including the antenna. Its eyes are like those of other Nullian arthropods, possessing simple eyes with singular pupils. Interestingly, the ones on the Jaco Killer do not glow, leaving only a pair of white iris' on a field of black sclera. The mouth is similar to the jaws of other Nullian arthropods, having an upper and lower jaw, though it is flanked by a pair of dangerous looking mandibles. The creature's forelimbs are covered in many sharp spines, clearly meant to improve gripping while also being sharp enough to cause cuts if yanked when attached to a target. One sketch disturbingly shows a tree whose branches are like with creatures having been run through them. One such branch has a creature being added to it by the Jaco Killer.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I've always had nightmares of being hung up on a tree by one of these things. Still have them, sometimes.']

Scientific Name Translation: Sadistic Branch Killer.

Average Size: 15 Feet/4.572 Meters in height.

Average Weight: 2.5 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females posses feathered antenna.

Habitat Range: Most heavily forested jungle regions in Royalback territory.

Summary:​

The majority of the Nations of the Oros species have peoples who instinctively dislike insectoid creatures. Why this is so has been argued for centuries, with many pointing to the dangers and brutality of the invasive Spider-Ants as a likely candidate. Some, like the author of this encyclopedia, however, have another theory as to why this is. The likely culprit is a massive mantid super-predator known for its horrific territorial displays an unsightly speed: The Jaco Killer.

The Jaco Killer, originally known as 'Jaco's Killer', was first given its modern name some two thousand years ago by renowned Royalback Hunter and biological researcher, Jaco Shen. He was the first to document the life style and cycle of these infamous insectoids, and it is his findings that I shall share within this book, within my own hand. Contrary to popular belief, the Jaco Killer did not get its name for slaying Jaco himself, it is simply the result of his name being attached to the specimens of his studies, the beasts often being referred to in old times as the 'Branch Killer'. [A note is attached. It reads: 'Jaco himself lived a long and fruitful life, dying in recent times following the tragic nuclear terrorist attack on the Royalback Great Walled City of Yang Quartz, which led to its invasion by mutated wildlife. I'm hearing rumors from the Mil-Net that we've finally found the culprits responsible for that, but we're still trying to nail down their base of operations.'-Circa 3149]

The Jaco Killer is notable massive by most insectoid standards, looming in at 15 feet tall at the head. It's long lower torso is nearly two dozen feet long and well armored, meaning often one has to target the relatively unarmored upper torso to kill one in battle. Even regular Slugger rounds can be used for this task, but the incredible speed and regenerative capabilities of the Jaco Killer makes it deceptively difficult to kill for good. The source of this great speed, despite their ungainly lower means of mobility, is partially due to a heavy diet rich in Fulgerite, which drastically increases it's capability for movement several times over.[

The Jaco Killer is thus armed with several weapons. It's foremost and most iconically notable ones are its forelimbs, the outer edge being sharp as blades and the inner edge covered in sharp spikes for better gripping. This, combined with their imposing size, grants the Jaco Killer a set of forelimbs that can pick up a fully armored adult individual of the Civilized Races. In addition, the Jaco Killer can electrify portions of its body, forelimbs included, in order to stun prey.

Once its prey is defeated, the Jaco killer takes it and returns to its home tree, a place hung full of its grisly trophies: On each branch is a prey creature, their bodies run through the center mass and left to hang. Most die immediately from shock and blood loss, but some prey are hardy enough to remain alive for relatively long periods of time. One such prey are the Mortal Races. The Jaco Killers, like many beasts, cannot feed upon our flesh, but this does not stop them from taking an Oros soldier it has captured and running them through the torso on a branch, leaving them grasping at the bloody and gruesome wound they now posses in their mid section. The Jaco Killers are very thorough in removing the armor platings that would otherwise prevent this occurrence on their Civilized prey.

Indeed, the intellect of a Jaco Killer is vast, enough that it possesses a notable amount of emotional intelligence. With this great intellect comes a savagely sadistic streak and a great enjoyment in causing suffering and pain. This, more than any other, is the reason why they perform such gruesome acts of skewering their prey from branches. Indeed, while some believe this serves as a way to warn off intruders from their territory, the evidence suggests these beings want intelligent beings to find these places and realize where they are and what will occur to them before the Killer strikes at them. [A note is attached. It reads 'Sooo, this makes them evil, right? Something like this has to be evil, right?']

In terms of diet, the Jaco Killer is a carnivorous creature, feeding heavily from the edible beings it captures and hangs from its tree. Whatever it does not eat, it uses to fertilize the often highly desirable vegetation surrounding its territory that is used to lure in plant eating creatures into the region, where upon it harvests them quickly and brutally, often toying with whatever unfortunate souls were lured into its territory. More than one innocent soul has been lost over the millennia, unwittingly entering this territory in order to seek out sought after fruits and roots for their kin to feed off of.

The Jaco Killer has no set mating season. Whenever a male and female meet, the male offers a portion of its bounty to her to feed off of before they engage in mating. Several weeks later, the female lays eggs which in turn hatch not long afterwards. The young spend several years remaining near their mother's tree, feeding off of whatever excess prey she collected. Once they mature, those that survive predation go off to find their own trees capable of sustaining their newfound size and weights before beginning the cycle of violence once more. [A note is attached. It depicts a tiny Jaco Kilelr presenting a dog head to its parent, staring in a speech bubble 'mother, I have killed'.]

Jaco's Killer is a widely known and fiercely hated creature by the natives of the Royalback Nation. The species has regularly been the target of extermination hunts across the centuries on the orders of various Emprerors and Empresses of the Royalbacks, often falling short of being able to completely render the species extinct. Following a period of calm, the Killers rebuild their numbers and the cycle begins anew as they once again become a threat to local populations. With the advent of the Great Walled Cities, it is becoming less and less common for towns to have enough people seeking wild food to fall prey to the murderous insects. Despite this, however, the hatred for them is so strong among the Royalbacks, that every few decades, another Great Purge is ordered. In recent years, the Royalbacks have begun to seek aid from the Bughunter Nation, who have had run ins with the beasts themselves, making it very likely they'll be rendered extinct by the end of the next two centuries. [A note is attached. It reads, 'And nothing of value was lost!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Flora, Land.

[Sketches depict a wide, wide, wide assortment of plant-life, from trees and grass, to flowers, to strange and monstrous looking lifeforms that exceed classic plant design. The coloration range from classic green foliage, to sanguine hued leaves and mesmerizing arrays of blues and purples. It is exceedingly obvious that the assortment on display in these sketches only scratch the surface of the amount of plant life on Null.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a very well detailed sketch of a single rose that has yet to bloom, its thorns razor sharp and with droplets of blood on them.]

Summary:​

Complex life, no matter how hardy or capable, relies on feeding on more life to survive. Even creatures that feed directly off the magic of the world requires ingestion of at least some minerals and vitamins that cannot be extracted from raw magic without complex spellwork. As a result, the food pyramid, at its base level, requires plants in order to sustain it. The majority of life on Null is omnivorous, but for the most part, prey animals make the most use of plant matter in order to feed themselves. As such, it would be remiss of me to write about the life forms of our homeworld if I did not make at least one entry dedicated to basic and arguably most vital component of the predation pyramid.

Like the plants of our sister Spirit Realm of Lacuna, plant life in the Mortal side of Null has a wide range of coloration for their foliage. The most common color is green, as these plants use the substance chlorophyll to attain energy from sunlight. These types of plants are considered the oldest and most widespread family of plant life, however they are far from the only one. Red colored plants feed on a potent mixture of raw magic in the air as well as blood drained from the ground, with raw sunlight being a supplementary means of gaining energy.

Others have colors that seem to have no real connection to feeding on light, though all can to some sort of affect as a supplement if it is not their primary means of food production. Purple and blue colored plants feed almost exclusively on the very magic of Null, raw Mana produced by the world surrounding them, the colors being the intermingling colors of wild Nullian Mana. Others drain power from elemental stones, or in the case of the Lightning Rod Tree, directly converts lightning into usable energy in stormy parts of the world. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I have friends who live in Lacuna. They tell me the Mana there is either light blue or green, rather than dark purple and dark blue like here. They also says the Mana of our side is 'weird' and 'funky' and that it makes spell casters who aren't born here go a little nuts and become more aggressive. 'Dark Mana', they call it.']

Unlike the plant life of Lacuna, however, many plants of Null are not purely static entities, passively going through life. Indeed, a notable percentage of flora, like the animals around them, are omnivorous in nature. Most not only passively take in nutrients form the ground and light from the sun, they also use a variety of methods to actively take in nutrition from corpses near them, with others still have developed specialized tools to make more corpses when possible.

Most of the 'Shooter' category of plants are actually just specialized roots that have come out of the ground and have been evolved for a deadly purpose. One of the most common types are the 'Repeaters', which are essentially giant flowers that open up to unleash a hail of sharp, metallic thorns with the speed of a bullet. Most Nullian animals are hardy enough to wade through this, but a weak kind of prey animal such as the relatively fragile Flicker-Tongue would be reduced to a pile of bloody shreds and red mist by the amount of thorns being launched at them. [A note is attached. It depicts a sketch drawing of two beings, a Flicker-Tongue and an armored Oros soldier being fired upon by a Repeater. The Flicker-Tongue has exploded into a cloud of blood and fragments, while the Soldier is being knocked back and off their feet by the sheer volume of fire involved.]

Another of the 'Shooter' category of plants is the 'Vampire Thorn'. Where as the Repeater fires a hail of thorns like bullets, the Vampire Thorn is like a missile or cannon. A large spike that is connected to the main body of the plant is fired with enough force to penetrate even most kinds of Nullian animal hides, where upon its serrated edges hold it in place and it starts to suck the bodily fluids from the creature while it still lives. Once completed, it unhooks itself from its prey and resets its spike back into the main body, where it then waits for the next animal to step into its range. A similar but purely melee version of this plant exists, though rather than being used for feeding, it's a purely defensive structure that keeps plant eaters away via a quick and brutal stab.

While not technically a Shooter category plant, the Whip Vine is another mostly defensive ranged option for some types of trees. Rolled into a tight bundle or laying on the ground like a sort of extended minefield, the Whip Vine attacks by unferrling and whipping its target. The force is sufficient to cut a Spirit man wearing old, unaugmented jousting plate armor in half. If it manages to kill something or wraps itself around something particularly weak, the Whip Vine wraps around the target before unleashing thousands of miniature syringe like structures coating its outer layers, allowing it to draw the victims bodily fluids out and feed upon them.

These are but some of the most common structures used by plant life to harvest more nutrients from the very things that feed upon them, rather than waiting for their fermenting corpses to fertilize the ground. Razor grass appears to be normal grass at first, but closer inspection reveals the individual blades to be sharp as razors and rigid as metal. Accidentally walking on it leads to bad things happening to ones feet if said feet aren't tough enough. Sap Mines are a pressure sensitive ground based defensive measures that only trigger when a certain amount of weight is placed on them; the bigger the mine, the more weight is required to set it off, so there are mines for killing medium sized life forms and those designed to drive off Giant and Titan sized monstrosities. Not kill; drive off.

While there is a wider array of defensive and offensive measures plants use, to end off this section so far, there are the 'Blast Fruit'. Resembling fleshy, glowing fruits, these objects are actually large sacks filled with gas. The most common type unleashes a cloud of toxic, caustic gas that is meant to drive away intruders from their territory, though it would reduce weaker creatures to a pile of dissolving matter on exposure. The least common type unleashes a seemingly harmless gas into the air, covering nearly several acres worth of forest in it from a single fruit. This gas, however, is flammable, and their specific fruit has an internal spark maker that lights it after a few moments. That's right; a naturally-occurring fuel air bomb. Worse still, the plants of the Blast Fruit of this type have fire proof bark, meaning that the sections of forest comprised of them remain intact as everything in an over a hundred meter radius is consumed by a hellish firestorm.

Even with these defensive and offensive measures, larger and tougher forms of life have little issue feeding on plant life. The Oliphant and Apo, for example, are unaffected by all but the most destructive means of driving them off, due to their sheer size alone compared to most other animals.

Most plants, however, have long developed alternate ways of interacting with fauna. Any plant with fruits or vegetables, for example, relies on animals to take their seeds to other places in order to spread themselves. The humble Apa is a common example of such fruit, coming in a wide range of flavors and coloration, unified by their caustic juices and single massive seed in their center that is often spat out by Apos due to them finding the high amount of cyanide distasteful. Humorously, many Oros have taken a liking to the almond taste of the cyanide in these seeds and enjoy eating them as a result. [A note is attached. It reads 'I've tried eating Apa-Seeds raw myself, but I can't do it! People say cyanide tastes like almonds, but it just tasted like poison to me! Then again, I am weird, so maybe it's just me?']

Many such plants also are widely used by Civilized Races in farming. Banki plants are curved and their seeds act like a handle that one grabs unto and uses to peel off the skin to eat the plentiful and delectable fruit-flesh beneath, tossing the seed away to become a new Banki plant in due time. The Plumpkin, or Genocide Gourd, gets its nickname due to it ruthlessly and brutally extending its root systems to choke out and kill all other, weaker plant life around it, spreading like a plague through farm fields if left unchecked. Spud-Spuds, also known by their modern name of 'Tatos', are tubers that enjoy a wide range of beloved recipes such as mashed tatos and spud-fries. These are but a handful of many countless types of fruits and vegetables grown and enjoyed the continent over by Civilized Race and wild animals alike, not counting the ones that directly feed off of foliage.

One notable plant that that is difficult to grow but renowned for the flavorful substance within its massive nut is the Paynut plant. Paynuts, as their names implies, requires a form of payment in order to safely remove and enjoy the large seeds they make. Animals with a taste for such a food kill and bring a form of payment to feed the Paynut, whereupon it loosens the seed to be taken away safely and enjoyed. Animals that attempt to take the Paynut without paying for it will find the plant having injected an obscene amount of cyanide into it, ruining the flavor and causing an upset stomach following consumption.

There are simply too many kinds and varieties of plant life to categorize in a book such as this one, though one can find a wide range of tomes that detail the wide, wide world of plant life on Null's land. Regardless of the kind, however, plants are as much living things as any other creature of Null, vital to sustaining the wider ecosystem and many being able and willing to participate in predation as well. For any Oros, they are particularly a vital component of living, as we Oros are truly omnivorous and require at least some of both meat and plant tissues in our diet to survive. Completely deducting one or the other leads to a slow, but eventual decline of health. Theoretically, an Oros can survive purely on one or the other indefinitely without requiring the other, but doing so leads to them becoming far more susceptible to being killed by an outside force, the most common source of death for an Oros on our homeworld. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Once, I got stuck in a mine in my home town after a particularly nasty tunnel collapse while I was helping to fix some equipment. The twenty of us had nothing to eat but wild Bore-Worm meat for 40 days before we were finally rescued. We was so weak by the end, if we weren't found and rescued, we would have all been killed by angry Common Maulwurfs. Well, all of us anyway. Rest in peace, guys.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Ghul

[Sketches depict a 4 limbed, lanky dark armored creature covered from head to toe in black plates. A single, cylopean eye resides at the center of its face, with a snouted maw of four plates, two jaws and two flanking mandibles that are as armored as the rest of its form. Its limbs are long and lanky, and all four end in 5 long, opposable digits that allow it to grip with either its hands or its feet. A long, well muscled tail with almost crocodilian like features sprouts from its armored buttocks, with sketches showing the beast using it for swimming and offensive actions. Other sketches depict the beast feeding on carrion, tearing apart what seem to be undead creatures, and one particular sketch shows on larger and more regal than others of its kind, with a crown of bone extending out from around its head.]

Scientific Name Translation: Death Eater. [A note is attached. It reads 'Stinky cat-monkey things is more like it.']

Average Size: 2.85 meters/9.35 feet at the head at full height.

Average Weight: 1k lbs/ 453.6 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: None, species is hermaphroditic.

Habitat Range: Any biome, though they tend to stick close to any Corpse-Lands that are in the region.

Summary:​

Scavangers are a vital part of any ecosystem. From the wide family of Geier birds, to Scavanger Beetles, to earth worms, all are vital for clearing the world of rotting flesh and carrion and to keep nature healthy and clean. No scavanger, however, are as fearsome or bold as the menacingly large and intelligent Ghul, a creature with an intimidating appearance and reputation, yet with certain traits and qualities that have brought unto them the attention of one of the Great Spirits of Lacuna and have become something of official, if animalistic, animals of her will.

The average Ghul is creature that stands close to three meters tall when standing at its full height, though most of the time they run on all fours and stay low to the ground, causing them to appear much shorter when they're not standing upright to use their front limbs for attacks. They are covered in a dark, almost black armored shell, that hugs their forms and gives them an appearence almost as though they are wearing suits of chitinous armor. The exception to this covering are several rows of teats lining their chest regions, which actually grown outside of their armored forms and thus do not leave openings into their internal sections. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I don't know about Ghuls, but I know for a fact myself that losing your tits in a fight hurts like hell! And they've got more than one pair, so that's like several times worse! At least they're kinda small and compact when not in use, so I guess it doesn't hurt them as much, probably?']

The Ghul has a resemblance between a cross between a primate, a feline, an insect, and a crocodilian, and that is because they are in fact just that. Genetic and fossil evidence fully supports that at some point within the last 3 million years, the first Ghuls were made during a mystical event that caused the fusion of several members of the previously mentioned species, giving rise to their current form. There is much argument, however, as to the cause of this magical event, with some scientists believing it to have been a natural, if particularly chaotic, magical occurrence, while others believe that a third party was behind their fusion, most likely candidates behind the mysterious Uplifter creatures known to lurk in the shadows of our world.

Regardless of their origins, the armored plates of a Ghul is highly resistant to damage, even capable of deflecting indirect shots from railgun rounds. This armored form, combined with their relatively large sizes and deadly capabilities, gives the Ghul a temperament that defies the stereotype of most scavengers. They actively drive off other predators within their weight category scavenging carrion, their greatest limitation being that they do not operate in large groups but in small packs of a handful of individuals at a time spread across a large area individually.

In terms of armament, their claws lining all their digits are long and sharp enough to rend untempered and unruned steel with little difficulty, their tails are muscular and strong enough to crumple stone pillars to the point of bursting in half, and they can produce and spit out a highly dangerous corrosive bile from their mouths that inflict disease and hallucinogenic attacks upon the victim. This 'Necro-Bile' also has the added affect of driving Geier birds like Rot-Hawks into an attacking frenzy, causing them to swarm the enemy of the Ghul, their own senses of self-preservation erased by a blood-lust untypical of their kind. [A note is attached. It depicts a doodle of a cartoonish Ghul pointing at a Oros soldier in armor, a flock of birds swarming him. A word bubble from the Ghul reads 'git 'im, bois!']

Furthermore, the Ghul is highly intelligent, able and willing to use tools on hand as weapons, or to use tactics to attack those entering their territory. A single large feline like eye resides at the center of their head and can, with great concentration, produce an energy beam of psionic nature capable of slicing through trees and scything through armored vehicles with ease, at the cost of temporarily blinding the individual Ghul in question. Both this eye-beam and the Necro-Bile they spit out are highly radioactive, thus requiring caution in order to avoid severe rad-burns.

The most intriguing element of the Ghul, however, is their complete immunity to necromantic magics. Surviving texts from ancient times revealed than when necromantic rituals performed by demonic beings were performed to raise the dead, any Ghul's brought back would immediately have their bodies retaken by their original souls, their ancient and dead flesh returning to life anew and reknitting back into a whole form, and the newly revived Ghul immediately turning its sights on the destruction of the Necromancer that dared to raise it up. This trait is what caught the attention of the Great Spirit of Night, Dreams, and Death, Luraru. The Great Spirit has since officially adopted the creatures as her personal servants in her campaign to eradicate necromancy, which in essence means these dark, dangerous, and macabre creatures are, technically speaking, holy. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Technically, the best kind of 'nically!']

Despite technically being holy servants to a goddess, Ghuls are still very much dangerous animals in their own right. They are territorial and aggressively drawn to any masses of rotting material to feed upon, and have a wretched odor that follows them like the stink on a Noxigon. Fascinatingly, this smell is actually a sign that the Ghul is clean and free of disease or bacteria on their outer-shells. Despite their nature as carrion eaters, Ghuls meticulously clean themselves with a foul-smelling but highly anti-bacterial formula created by mashing various kinds of fungi and lichen together. As such, aside from an eye-watering assault on the senses, one can safely touch a Ghul without worry of becoming diseased, and even a direct bite carries little risk if it has not eaten or spat up Necro-Bile recently.

The most dangerous and powerful kind of Ghuls are Ghul Queens. These beings are Ghuls that succeeded in findind, and consuming, the rotting flesh of an Elder God, causing them to ascend into a new and dangerous form, noted by a bone-crown forming around their heads. Ghul Queens gain many abilities, including the ability to produce a hyper-deadly airborne toxin capable of killing all life in a near kilometer wide radius, the venom being so potent that nothing will ever grow again in this place. Despite this, life continues, as another ability of the Ghul Queen is to reformat the dead plant-matter of these poisoned lands and breath into them a new life, twisting their forms until they become grotesque, rotten versions of their old selves. A Ghul Queen claims this entire patch of land they poisoned as their personal kingdom, a process that is known as 'Putriforming', so named because of the ungodly putrid smells that these living-death flora produce. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wonder if they have like actual kingdoms. Do Ghul Queens have courts? What does a Ghul Court look like? Does she sit on a throne and wave around a lil' sceptar to bop normal Ghuls on the head with? I have so many questions! Note to self, find book on Ghul Queens.']

In theory, by their nature as chosen agents of the goddess of death as well as their ascension to demi-godhood by consuming the flesh of an Elder God, Ghul Queens theoretically have the ability to raise the dead at their command. None have ever actually displayed this ability. After all, Ghuls don't want undead things. They want rotting corpses to feed upon. Furthermore, the more powerful the undead in question, the blessings of Lacuna results in the Ghul facing it to gain power in direct proportion, in order to see it destroyed. In theory, this has no upper limit, but in practice, the lack of undead gods in the world results in no real titanic clashes between them and these literally blessed eaters of carrion.

As previously mentioned, Ghuls are hermaphroditic in nature, possessing both kinds of sex organs stored within their armored forms. When mating season occurs, Ghul packs hunt to find potential mates. Upon finding one, they each offer the other a sample of their Bile for testing, to see what sorts of carrion the other has eaten. They then inspect one another for cleanliness and, if both find the other suitable, they proceed to mate. Their several pairs of teats come in handy in nursing a whole litter of pups born two months after the mating has taken place, the parents taking turns hunting and feeding their young. Young Ghuls are born without their armor, and thus are highly vulnerable. They are those raised in a dark, secluded, and easily defensible place until the time that their young's armor finally grows in and they can begin teaching them the ways of their kind.

Once the young have grown enough to fend for themselves, they break off from their parents in search of territory to claim as their own. This intermediate period between their guarded youth and their adulthood in a pack of their siblings is where the majority of young Ghuls meet their end. Upn expiry, a Ghul is found by others of their kind and then ritualistically cannibalized for their hearts and livers, before the remains are buried beneath soil to rest eternally.

Ghuls are dark, brutal, and macabre creatures who play a very important role in keeping the world clean of rotten flesh. They cannot feed upon the flesh of Civilized Races but can, with time, be tamed and trained to protect graveyards from unwanted looters. As a direct result, they are respected creatures, albeit ones whose smell and eating habits results in most leaving as soon as they discover their presence rather than giving them a moment's consideration. Ghul's are perfectly fine with this arrangement: As long as they get rotting meat they can feed upon and they are properly taught, they are perfectly fine with sharing territory with Civilized species. As living extensions of Lacuna's will, few can ask for better, if foul smelling, guardians of the dead's rest. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I visited a graveyard that had the bones of one of my ancestors. We still had his ash jar, but she'd been fancy and important enough to have a whole grave for her bones to rest in. I got to meet some of the Guard Ghuls around and whoo, it took me ages to stop smelling whatever gunk they use to keep themselves clean!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Uplifter.

[Sketches depict a rather ominous creature, a being that at a glance seems to be donning a cloak while its seemingly eyeless head stares at the viewer. Close inspection sketches reveal this 'cloak' to in fact be numerous tentacles, and close inspection of the head reveals two pairs of eyes on either side of its vaguely wedge shaped head. Its maw is jawed, with for mandibles ending in teeth covering up its otherwise exposed cheek-line, which reveals numerous sharp teeth. It's front-most section is covered up by plating that resembles teeth, interlocking when closed. The flesh is vaguely purplish and two of the many tentacles seem to extend from the main body like primary arms, ending with a pair of sharp hypodermic fangs. Sketches depict such beings using strange and dangerous powers, and observing the sketcher from the shadows.]

[A note is attached. It depicts a highly detailed sketch of a close up of an Uplifter head. It is staring directly at the observer, with a single word written in the corner: 'Creepy'.]

Scientific Name Translation: Maker of Monsters.

Average Size: 4 meters/13.12 feet from head to tentacle-tip.

Average Weight: 1 ton.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, male identification used though rarely some can be identified using feminine identification.

Habitat Range: All locations.

Summary:​

On a world with life as common and varied as our own, few things stand out as being truly 'unnatural'. Magic saturates our world, and we are very much aware thanks to the 'Book of Origins' that Null itself was crafted on the cosmic plane by the 'Weaver', a younger sibling to our Mediator Media and a being of incalculable power within the omnipresent dimension known as the Aether, a goddess like being known whose very name is shared by our world: Null. This Aether Being preplanned a great many creatures by carefully planning set evolutionary plans while she weaved the world, these plans culminating in certain species being borne into the Mortal realm. This includes all of the Mortal Civilized Races of Null, such as the Oros. However, despite this careful planning, Null had a goal for our world, for it to be a place of danger and death, and as a result she placed a system upon Null that would ensure that it would be populated by the most dangerous creatures imaginable.

This system was in the form of floating, vaguely cepholopodic creatures known in official texts as 'Uplifters'. The role for these artificial beings is a simple, yet horrifying one: They would periodically peer through the veil between worlds, into other realities, and pick and choose dangerous beasts for 'trials'. If these creatures succeed the Trials, then they would be integrated into our world by the Uplifters, who among other things would grant the creatures Sentinel Bacteria in order to avoid them being dissolved by our world's caustic pollutants in our air or be overwhelmed by our higher than garden world standard gravity. One of the most infamous examples of such creatures that they wrought to our world is the Spider-Ant, with evidence in other creatures that they were created into their current forms by Uplifter meddling.

A typical Uplifter is long at over 4 meters in length. Much of this length is their many, many tentacles, which they use for fine manipulation of objects when they do not use telekinetic powers. their main body is relatively short at only 2 and a half meters long, and is mostly a hose for their tentacles. An Uplifter lacks much in the way of organs, mostly existing as a heart and stomach analog more used for close analyzation of materials rather than to gain actual sustenance. A complete skeletal system provides them with some structure, with the skull being the most robust of this system. Of the tentacles present, two are noted for possessing hypodermic fangs at the end, one at the tip of each tentacle. These fangs possess a mutagen with which the Uplifter can use to change a creature in any way they see fit. This mutagen is fast acting and capable of doing anything from evolving a creature to a more advanced state, mutating their forms to a new and monstrous appearance, or simply 'upgrade' the existing body to a more robust form.

As artificially beings crafted and breathed life into by a god-like being, these creatures are virtually unkillable. Even total atomization through mundane means will simply result in the creature reforming elsewhere, though if 'killed', a body will be left behind, a hollow shell devoid of life and useless for anything but as proof of ones ability to fight these beasts in combat, a rare occurrence indeed. There are only three known ways to permanently kill an Uplifter: For it to be slain by a divine being, for them to be denied resurrection by their council of brothers, or to be completely consumed by the Aether. This last one is the most common way for us Mortals to kill them, though a Magi with skill in Aetherworks is required in the deed. Regardless of if they are killed, however, a new Uplifter is created by the rest of their brethren to replace the one that was lost, albeit one whose personality is likely to be wildly different from the original. [A note is attached. It reads 'Immortality almost sounds cool, if it wasn't so painful. Life is painful enough without being unable to die on top of that.]

In terms of offensive and defensive capabilities, a typical Uplifter is a match for most intermediate Magi in terms of skill with Aetherworks. With the power of the Aether in their possession, they can perform virtually anything that can be imagined. Summoning miniature suns into life, calling down the fury of a storm or the blood-freezing chill of a hyper-blizzard, altering the laws of physics such as gravity or outright rewriting what is real or not in a localized area, and much, much more. It is not an exaggeration to say that Uplifters are one of the most dangerous creatures on Null, however this is tempered by their duty to their role. Their wildly different personalities and outlooks can result in their actual danger to people ranging massively, though most will have no ill will to members of the Civilized Races of Null, and none would dare to step out of line with their role to expand and improve the deadliness of Null's ecosystem. Furthermore, when encountering a Civilized Race of Null, they are bound by their restrictions to avoid using outright Aetheric attacks upon them, in order to avoid Aetheric Damage upon them.

[A note is attached. It reads 'I've met people who have lost parts of themselves to Aether Damage, even Oros who lost their limbs! I asked them what it's like to have parts of themselves wiped off the face of Existence. All of them said the same thing: It's extremely painful and the pain never really goes away, you just get used to it being there. The ones who lost the bones where their arms or legs used to be say it's even worse than that and they had to take decades of psychological counseling in order to cope. I have nightmares of suffering Aether Damage. When I wake up, I swear I can feel the pain from my dreams where I'd been hit...']

Though highly illusive, encounters with them in the past has been frequent enough for many to have had their mutagen stores extracted. This mutagen is processed and used for a wide variety of scientific experiments, such as the upliting of animals in a controlled environment to more person-like forms. The largest experiment of such uplifts occurred in the Great Walled City of Yang Quartz, featuring a village's worth of uplifted Flittermice ranging from mice to squirrels in the experiment center. [A note is attached. It reads: Sadly, following the tragic nuclear attack on Yang Quartz by a currently unknown group that led to the city's fall, this experiment has since been lost, though recent recovery efforts have found evidence of their continued existence within the fallen Great Walled City. Hopefully, through more such experiments leading to the process being perfected, we can create new forms of life that are amicable to ourselves and each other.'-Found this from the author's blog and added it to my notes, Hildra.]

That all said, the Uplifters continue to this day to live mostly in the shadows of our world, dutifully plucking examples of dangerous life to integrate into Null's ecosystem. The people of our world are of two minds of this, often at the same time. Many are bitter that our already dangerous world is growing even more dangerous with each passing year and each passed Trial the Uplifters perform, though at the same time, it cannot be denied that our planet's many dangerous have managed to make us into effective fighting machines. Those that glean through the Book of Origins pages know that Null intentionally made our world this way, not for us to suffer, but for us to be prepared for the trials that await us our among the stars.

While it is hard to be thankful, it cannot be denied that this information causes most to feel a sense of unease: Namely, what awaits us out in our universe that requires such a harsh world? Many answers have been given to us by the knowledgeable Spirits of Lacuna and the Magi Order, and all of them are rather troubling. Despite this, however, we cannot give into despair. We must stand together, united, against every danger, whether domestic or foreign. Together, we can stand against anything, no matter how terrible, that awaits us in the dark between the stars. [A note is attached. It depicts a picture of one of the two moons of Null, Senoria Sanguine. It is blue, with seas of glowing blue god-blood, and an aura of menace. Drawn around the moon itself are sketches of tentacles.]

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is a transcript from a section from the Grimoire of the Magi Order, written by an unknown author.]

Aether and the Magi.

'In the beginning, there was nothing. And then, [GOD/SAJUUK/THE LORD/THE MAKER/CREATOR OF ALL/THE ALMIGHTY] saw fit to begin anew. The first of these creations was a place, [SHEOL/THE AETHER/THE VOID/THE NOTHING OF EVERYTHING]. And from there, Creation began.'
-First passage from the Bible of the Ambaric Faith, the Aetheric Holy Scrolls, and the Book of the Great Spirits.

At the start of time, there were us, Mortals. In the time before time, there were the Elders, the prototypes to Mortal Life as we know it today. And in the time before the time before time, there were the Ancients, the Primordials from which all concepts derive from. The first among these, however, was the Aether, a place of nothingness. For the majority of its History, the Aether was inhabited by only two beings: Lethe, the Devourer, and her husband Eunoe, the Protector. The two are of the Aether and are the Aether, one and the same, or so it is written. Ever since the death of the first Universe was borne into creation, the Aether and the Aether Beings within it had one great purpose: To devour these dead realities to stop their rotting corpses from polluting all of Creation and to make space for new worlds to be borne. Thus, Lethe and Eunoe were known by their titles: 'The Vultures of God'.

However, as the two enacted their great and vital purpose, Great Lethe came to realize something: A terrible hunger existed within her, one that could not be sated but with the act of Eating dead worlds and wiping them from the face of What Is. So maddening was this hunger, that Lethe enacted the First Purge, wherein before she could be stopped, she ravenously Devoured vast swathes of Creation. Stopped by her husband, the first of several changes was enacted in the Pact they had with the Lord: They were not to Consume realities that still yet lived, with only the corpse universes being what they would consume. Lethe, having been humbled and learned to control her Hunger more, became a more compassionate being towards the Mortals she once feasted upon.

And thus, a long stretch of peace was attained. This Peace was briefly overcome when Lethe, in a moment of old weakness, created a race to feed her Hunger by having them strike out against Elders who sought to harm Mortals. They are only known today as the [Sleepers]. The Sleepers, however, grew independent and sought to feed their creator with the blood of Creation once again. Eunoe saw the madness of his wife's newly independent creations and rose a race of his own to combat them. They were the Oros, a people whose design would one day resurface to be used in our creation in this Age. Eventually, the two races fought each other to extinction and a new peace came over Creation.

One day, during the Mortal Age, Lady Lethe and Lord Eunoe had a child, a daughter named Media the Red Lady. With their child grown, Lethe and Eunoe took temporary absence of their duties to explore the afterlife, with Media having four Mortals Ascended to Aether godhood to be her assistants, the first and so far only time such a thing has ever occurred. They were the three sisters, North, South, and Libdas, and the Machine Mind Sora. With them came the first of the Magi, Mortal beings who has been born blessed with the power to manipulate the energies of the Aether.

The Magi were of free will, to do with their abilities as they decided, but they were not originally without a purpose. They were a defense for Mortal life, to stand against the jealousy of the Elders, who cursed the Mortals for the wealth of new universes dedicated to them to inhabit. Even upon the return of Lethe and Eunoe, the Magi continued to be borne among the Mortals, though in time, as restrictions were placed upon the Elders, the need for them decreased and their appearance in the Mortal Realms began to dwindle.

After the return of Lethe and Eunoe, three more daughters were borne to them: Aegia, the Silver Lady of War, Orual the Amber Lady of Knowledge, and Null the Green Lady of Madness. The last to be born between Lethe and Eunoe was a son. He, however, was born asleep and has never since awaken, to the eternal grief of Lethe and Eunoe. Following this, the two became more reclusive and distant from dealings with the rest of Reality outside of their Duty, with their children becoming active and aiding to curb the rising threat of Elder insurrection against those Mortal planes not protected by the Elders' previous restrictions. Of them, Media and Null, the oldest and the youngest of the Aether Sisters respectively, created Mortal Races to do their bidding. Media, the Orberon, and Null, the Oros, reborn using the designs once drafted and used by her father long, long ago.

Null created a world that would one day bare her name in order to perfect the Oros through the trials of a hellish deathworld as their homeworld. Media, who had taken many shortcuts to get the Oberon to the same degree of capability, saw the Oros and found them better suited for her needs. Thus, in the year of approximately 1000 A.A, Media created a mortal shell for her to inhabit and interact with Nullian kind, the Mediator. In the year of 1501, she succeeded in unifying the various Nations of the world of Null under the banner of the Median, with her Pact being a simple one: She would help ease the burden upon the Mortals from the onslaught of daily Nullian life and thus allow us to advance towards the stars, and in exchange, we would hunt down the Elders that stalked the stars.

---

To be a Magi is to be a being with the potential for great power, but with the burden of great danger as well. They become a target for Elders, who fear them becoming predators against their kind anew, a fate that is sealed for their attacks but motivate and embolden Magi into their role.

The Magi Order of Null was founded in years long past, when Aether Shamans united to form a singular institution to train and prepare others of their kind. Thus the first true Magi of Null came into being. Mortal and Spirit alike could be born blessed with the power to perform Aetherworks, the magic of manipulating the Aether, the only form of magic available for most modern Oros who have since become immune to the touch of most other forms of magecraft. It is long, draining work to become a Magi, but once the training is complete, a being of great power takes their steps to aid in the betterment of the world. Magi of the Order hunt down Elder creatures that are a threat to Null, as well as engage in peace talks with those Elders that can be reasoned with. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Order to help hunt and strike down fearsome beasts that threaten the people, and to aid the Order of Berserker Paladins with their God given duty of striking down all things demonic in nature.

Those who are found to be blessed by the Aether are taken to the Order and trained lest they become a danger to themselves or those around them. Once trained to control their powers, they are given the choice to remain with the Order to serve the people of the Median, or they can return to their old life. This is a far cry from the old days where Magi had only the choice to serve within the Order.

The power over the Aether, known as Aetherworks, is highly dangerous. In theory, one can do virtually anything one can imagine with this power, up to and including rewriting reality itself. In practice, however, Magi are limited by training, skill, and natural power, which grows over time as they better learn to use their powers. Numerous schools of training exist, from the Sunbearers and Hydrosingers, to Stormbringers and Frostcallers. The most powerful and dangerous school is that of the Aethermeisters, whom directly call upon the energies of the Aether itself rather than using the Aether to conjure and control the elements the other schools use. This means they can wipe things off the face of Existence, the total cessation of existing, upon Devouring them with their Aetherworks. With this power in hand, even the lowliest Aethermeister is a threat to the mightiest god that does not take them seriously, though in turn the Magi but be careful, for such power is not a plaything and can just as easily turn on them if they treat it as such..

In the Modern day, Magi inhabit all strands of society, with our ultimate goal being to protect our fellow Mortals and to destroy any Elder threats we encounter. We are spread through all career paths and social classes, from humble Hunters, to Median Knights in the military, to leaders of Nations. Time will tell how successful we are in this endeavor, however, to keep our people safe, as even the most powerful and dangerous of us are still Mortal and can overextend ourselves.​

 

[TripleMRed]

Nightmare.

[Sketches depict a large, maggot like creature with pale, almost translucent skin and glowing insides. This is the early stage of the creature, however, and its adult form takes on a bipedal, limbed existence. It has a trificated jaw structure, the lower jaw splitting into two upon opening. Black eyes with white pupils stare out of its newly skulled head and the sketches depict it using telepathy and telekinetic abilities.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'You know, if they weren't such jerks, they could probably make a killing with using their powers for street-magic.']

Scientific Name Translation: Fear Maker.

Average Size: 3 meters/9.8 feet tall.

Average Weight: 1 ton.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A.

Habitat Range: Near Civilized Races.

Summary:​

Our homeworld is home to many strange and bizarre creatures, whom posses a wide host of mystical abilities that defy mundane explanations and that feed on a host of mystical items as a result. All of these beasts however, strange as many of them are, are natural. The creature known as the 'Nightmare' is not. What we know as the Nightmare hails from the Spirit Realm of Lacuna. In its home dimension, they take the form of diminutive, squat equines called 'Mares', that sneak into Spirits' homes and feed upon their dreams while they slumber. This is their original true form in the Spirit Realm. What they appear like on the Mortal plane, however, is what gives them their name.

Upon breaching the barriers between our two planes of existence, the Nightmare makes a conscious effort to become a truly terrifying creature. They spawn in the dead of night, starting as small, maggot like creatures, precursors to their full forms. In this state, they perform the same action as they do in Lacuna, sneaking undetected into homes and feeding upon the dreams of those within, eating their good dreams and leaving only nightmares. Oros are immune to direct forms of magic, but this means little to the Mares or their Nightmare forms as they siphon dreams via psionic abilities, allowing them to tap into Oros minds and feed upon their dreams in this manner. [A note is attached. It reads, 'When I was in high-school, we had a biology class that had a captured Nightmare maggot in it. I could feel it trying to probe my mind, but since I was awake, my nervous systems kept changing between one another. It made me woozy, but better than being mind-controlled by a giant nightmare buggo!']

The more psionic energies they steal to feast upon, the larger a Nightmare becomes and the more powerful they grow in tandem with their size. Eventually, this results in the Nightmare undergoing a metamorphosis, resulting in their signature appearance as we think of them today. Tall, limbed maggot-men, the final stage of the Nightmare has its original maggot like body become akin to a massive, tailed brain structure as the rest of their new bodies grow beneath them. At this stage, their abilities have grown to such a degree they no longer need to enter people's homes to feed. Indeed, a single Nightmare can siphon the dreams of whole towns within the territory they lay claim to. It is usually at this stage, wherein mass reports of nightmarish dreams spreading across the populace, that the hunt for the Nightmare takes place.

Their lairs vary wildly, but usually have some common elements, having become full of a silk the Nightmare uses to create its home to its desired form. Nightmare Silk, while having some physical properties, is a mystical construct tied to the Nightmare that makes it. Upon their demise, the Silk begins to degrade rapidly, with whole cave systems once filled with the strands becoming devoid of them within a week after the Nightmare's demise.

As for encountering a Nightmare, the beast is a powerful psionic in this late stage. Their limbs are long and having some power, but are rarely if ever used throughout the duration of the fight, the Nightmare instead making heavy use of telepathic and telekinetic attacks against those that hunt it down. The longer a fight goes on and the more injury is accrued upon the Nightmare, the more powerful its attacks become in direct proportion to its desperation to survive. As this occurs, the aurora like light patterns produced within its body, primarily in the brain housing, begins to rapidly fluctuate in response to this agitation and injury. If a Nightmare is slain when it is in the middle of making heavy use of its powers, a feedback loop will occur and cause the Nightmare to lose control of its powers. They then typically ascend into the air as they lose all control before producing a massive blast of psionic energy with their last breaths, a psychic bomb that explodes the nervous systems of weaker creatures and causes painful headaches to the Civilized Races to be caught in the blast. [A note is attached. It reads, 'It doesn't just affect organic minds, either. It also affects electronics. I've had to fix up more than one drone or vehicle that got caught up in a Nightmare deathsplotsion and let me tell you, EMP hardening means jack-piss for something like that.']

Upon its physical body's death, the Nightmare's physical shell remains in this world, albeit desiccated and with no more connection to the Mare that had inhabited its gnarled form. This shell, ironically, has many positive medicinal concoctions that can be created by using the required body parts to create them, thus making Nightmare hunting a positive net benefit upon the creature's demise. These effects are naturally more pronounced when used on Mortalized Spirits, or normal Spirits back on Lacuna, making a healthy market of trading Mortal produced goods from Nightmare body parts to Lacuna, or the Mortalized Spirit populace on Null.

Due to the nature of their existence, Nightmares lack a biological sex of any kind, and thus do not reproduce. Every new Nightmare is the direct result of a Mare from Lacuna burrowing over to the Mortal realm and taking on this twisted form for its purposes. The closest thing to reproduction Nightmares engage in is mixing their magical abilities with their Psionic ones in order to create temporary astral projection clones to fight alongside them. If there is any interest in the reproductive cycle of the Mare species in their natural form over in Lacuna, this is covered in the book, 'A World of Spirits, An Encylopedia on the Creatures of the Spirit World of Lacuna'.

Nightmares are a recurring hassle that, while rarely directly a threat to Mortals, have long term consequences that cannot be ignored and allowed to occur. Nightmares left to feed off a sleeping populace for too long can result in wide numbers of innocent people lacking sleep and thus becoming more susceptible to attacks by animals during their waking hours. To die is bad enough, but to be killed because you've been lacking sleep for four weeks in a row is even worse; it's downright insulting. As such, whenever a Nightmare is confirmed to be present, a proper hunting team is sent out to deal with the creatures, and allow the populace to sleep soundly in their beds once again. [A note is attached. It reads 'I once played a game with my friends to see how long we could go without sleeping. I lasted a whole month on that dare before my body had enough of my hallucinations causing me trouble and just automatically shut me down for sleep when I got on a couch. Best week long sleep coma ever!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Slinker.

[Sketches depict a long and highly flexible scaly creature. The beast has four limbs, but the body is long enough that i curl around objects with little issue, the limbs being used to improve its grip on the object. It's face is long and snouted, and completely devoid of eyes, resembling a long, even, and completely smooth crocodilian skull, almost closer to a mask rather than an actual skull, sets of interlocking teeth running along its maw, plated scales running along the lines between its head and its neck like a crown. The sketches show this creature stalking from the shadows, literally entering and exiting from the darkness itself as though leaping into or pulling itself out of a pool of unmoving black water.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'Lucky lizards. They don't need eyes to see, but if I lose one in a way that it can't regen properly, so sorry Hildra, but you need a Seeing Eyepatch for the rest of your life. What a rip-off!']

Scientific Name Translation: Shadow Stalker.

Average Size: 2.4 meters/7.87 feet long.

Average Weight: ~500 pounds.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are larger and have red markings across their skulls and backs.

Habitat Range: All-Biomes.

Summary:​

Of the various families of creatures on Null, few are as intimidating or as troublesome as the Shadow Beasts, a family of highly varied species that all share one thing in common: Eyeless heads that resemble smoothed bone-masks, and the ability to travel through anywhere that lacks light, hence their name. The least physically durable but most intelligent breed of such beasts is the humble Slinker, a creature known for it's ability to adapt on the fly during a hunt as well as an unusual body structure that allows them many avenues of combat.

The Slinker's most notable physical characteristics, after the facial features that unite the Shadow Beast family, is its long, tube like body. Covered in smooth, iridescent green scales, the Slinker's long body is highly flexible, allowing it to bend in any direction without any real difficulty. Their faces are long snouts, almost crocodilian save that they are perfectly smooth and bone like, like an evenly smoothed bone mask. A total lack of visible eyes and ear holes leaves one to wonder how they can sense things, though extensive research has found that they can see and hear very clearly despite the seeming lack of ways to interpret visual and audio stimulus. Running along the back of its head, in the area where its skull like face and its neck interlock, a set of teardrop shaped plates extend outward. Theories have long stood that these are used as a method of feeding the creature stimulus, though more recent evidence indicates that these plates are in fact related to other senses, mainly electro and mystic sensory in nature. [A note is attached. It depicts a cartoon drawing of a Slinker seeing musical notes. Words follow, reading 'I read a paper once that Slinkers can see sound, taste electrical and magical impulses, and feel depression. It was an interesting read!']

Despite only weight roughly 500 pounds on average, the Slinker's body is very, very strong, due to it mostly being muscle. As a result, it is not uncommon for Slinkers to wrap themselves around an enemy and try to crush them with its body's raw strength. Those observed working together were known to wrap themselves around the limbs of larger prey in order to break or crush the joints of the animals in question. Slinkers, like with most life on Null, cannot feed on the flesh of the Civilized Races, but this does not stop them from using their extreme crushing strength in a fight.

In addition to their own long and flexible bodies, their jaws posses incredible bone crushing capability, able to bite through unaugmented reinforced steel with little issue. Their claws, while affixed to relatively short limbs, are sharp, allowing them to grip onto objects with ease and allow them to climb, or to cause gashes when they are in the middle of attack their prey. Their greatest and most dangerous ability, however, is their ability to 'dive' into darkness, giving them unparalleled mobility in any location with a patch of darkness wide enough to allow their forms to enter. Attempts in the past have been made to shine a light on these 'dives' and attempt to cut the creature in half and stop their escape, but this has proven useless. When a Shadow Beast of any kind is in the middle of a 'Dive', either in or out of a patch of darkness, no amount of light shown can stop the Dive while it is in the middle of occurring. As a direct result of their ability, capturing one without use of special magics to prevent its escape is almost impossible, as even the most minute of temporary power outages will give a Slinker the opportunity to escape whatever holding's it is in. [A note is attached. It reads 'Don't you just hate it when your 8 foot long skull faced shadow monster escapes because you had to change the batteries on your flashlight cage?']

Furthermore, a Slinker is a highly intelligent hunter, one that often will not attack directly unless it has little other choice. It will sneak about, stalk, and otherwise perform its name sake in order to catch their unsuspecting prey by surprise before moving in for the kill. This very intellect, however, is what allows them to be excellent companions. Slinkers, if trained young or through circumstances be forced to trust a member of the Civilized Races, become loyal friends who rarely stray far from their Civilized counterparts. Indeed, 'tamed' Slinkers act much like large canines, though numerous laws and security concerns make it so that Slinkers, tamed or otherwise are not allowed to inhabit the confines of the Great Walled Cities, leaving them to coexist with us on the outskirts of our territory.

When mating season occurs, Slinkers congregate in large numbers to isolated areas. Once there, they divide themselves between male and female exclusive groups, before beginning a great chasing game. The larger and stronger female of the pair chase the weaker male across the width and breadth of the area, until the weaker is finally caught. Once this happens, the two Dive into the shadows where they can mate in peace. After this, the two parents separate, with females tending to their nests, guarding and teaching their young. Young Slinkers are too weak to survive in the shadows for long, and as a result must be raised in normal-space. This leaves them and their parent at their most vulnerable, and as a result Slinkers often make nests in the most defensible positions they can find, though first time Slinker mothers have been known to miscalculate and build nests at ground level in exposed clearings. At about two years of age, a Slinker has grown big and strong enough to be able to survive on their own, as well as begin their first Dives on their own. It is around this time that they separate from their mothers and go off on their own. [A note is attached. It depicts a detailed sketch of a baby Slinker, which is notably smaller and chubbier than their full grown adult form. Words follow, reading, 'Soooo cute!']

The Slinker is a devious and dangerous animal, but one that can be avoided by most Civilized Races by simply not heading into their territory. Often, however, Slinkers hunt livestock for those whose farms have yet to modernize into full agricenters, and as a result conflict between Civilized Races and Slinkers continue to this day. Only time will tell whether this conflict of interests will continue long into the future.

 

[TripleMRed]

Shadow Maw.

[Sketches depict an enormous shadowy beast existing a huge tear of darkness in a well lit area. The creature is massive and with qualities like that of a maggot and a mantoid insect, with a massive, smoothed armored head at the top of its body. The creature's main body is segmented, with many small grub like legs running along the underside of its segments. At the top of the body is a chest like region, with a pair of massive insectoid arms tipped with huge scythe-blades, used to prop the creature upright and for movement and attack. The head is wedge-shaped and utterly smooth and bone-like with a lower jaw and a pair of flanking mandibles. Sketches show the inside of the creature's mouth: It is an endless expanse of teeth, lining the jaws and circling the throat, which is an empty black pit from the perspective of the sketch.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'I know I can't actually get eaten by one of these things, but the insides of their mouths.....One word: teeth.]

Scientific Name Translation: Devouring Shadow.

Average Size: 20-30 meters in height when standing upright..

Average Weight: 3,565 tons.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A.

Habitat Range: All Biomes.

Summary:​

The Shadow Beasts are a troublesome family line of creatures, due to their ability to 'Dive' into the shadows, allowing them to circumvent the barriers of the normal world of matter we inhabit. The various members of this line are varying levels of dangerous, due to this ability and their respective temperaments, but one creature within this family line in particular stands out as a monster above all others, a creature infamous for its ravenous appetite and profound hatred of Civilized Races. These rare but highly dangerous monsters are known simply as the Shadow Maws.

The largest of the Shadow Beasts at being a Giant-Class creature, the Shadow Maws are also the most dangerous. They are driven by an innate, almost supernatural hunger, a need to feed that cannot be fully sated and which will cause them to consume whole swathes of land in short order. Flora, Fauna, and even the mineral wealth of the soil itself are all eagerly consumed by the beast, leaving the areas they strike barren and lifeless. They are especially dangerous to Civilized Races as we are some of the few things these creatures are incapable of eating. As a direct result of this, they are enraged by our presence and have been known to break off from their feeding frenzy in order to try and strike us down. They are creatures of such power that unlike the other Shadow Beasts, they do not require patches of darkness to Dive in and out of the shadows. They can enter and leave the Shadow Realm at will. Luckily, however, their sheer size is such that it takes them some time and effort to move between the realms, with active light slowing them down further. [A note is attached. It reads 'Shadows Maws don't need darkness to dive out of the darkness. They just....show up, whenever they want to. It's scary as hell to me.]

In the most ancient of historical times, Shadow Maws were a grave threat due to their destructive capabilities, devouring farm land and livestock and slaughtering farming communities by the dozen. In this era, Shadow Maws were slain by great heroes who were blessed with mighty weapons forged by the Great Spirit of Blacksmithing, Eruiru. All of these heroes would go on to become legends in ancient folk-lore and records, though many of their names have been lost to time with the loss of many such records. It was during these times that the Shadow Maws first appeared in modern fossil records, as they are now known to have existed millions of years ago before suddenly dropping off the fossil record at around the time of the last major extinction event, likely entering some form of hibernation or stasis until food became plentiful again.

The Shadow Maw is a creature that is always heavily armed. It's huge, scythe like limbs are mostly for mobility, dragging it's lumbering form around, but they also have sharpness and strength to bisect whole treelines and cleave armored vehicles in half. They can project an irradiated, incendiary, molecular acid from their maws, used to melt structures and leave those inside to a gruesome and slow death. They can project and unleash explosive orbs of dark energy that cause nuclear decay on impact and gravitational anomalies. Shadowy lightning can be cast forth, disabling technology and burning holes through armor. The signature attack of these creatures, however, is when they are not fighting Civilized Races: they open their jaws as wide as they can before inhaling, causing a sucking effect with gale-force winds that draws in anything unfortunate enough to be in its way to be drawn into its mouth. Even trees and embedded rock is uprooted and drawn in to be consumed. Massive crushing jaws ensure even the most heavily armored of creatures are disposed of in a matter of a bites. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Nothing should be able to just chew up a damn Greater Shinook! It's just not right, it's just not natural.]

Dissection of fallen Shadow Maw's corpses has revealed interesting, and disturbing, truths about them. They appear to lack much in the way of any internal organs. In fact, they are almost entirely composed of nothing but bone, plating, and muscle tissue. No discernible stomach has been found, and indeed, inspections by Magi indicate that whatever the Shadow Maw eats is destroyed entirely. Some speculation exists on if they cease to exist entirely, or if they are fed to some shadowy 'void' unrelated to the Aether but which the Shadow Maws are borne from, and it is generally agreed further research into this topic will be required in order to discern the truth.

The Shadow Maw has no mating season and in-fact lack sexes entirely. No known records indicate the reproductive methods of the Shadow Maw, as all time they spend not eating in the material world is spent in the shadow realm, with all Magi led hunting parties into the place resulting in no way to track the beasts down. So far, there are three theories on how they come into being. The first, and less likely, is that they produce an egg like seed similar to those discovered in the shadow realm and spit it out through their only orifice, their mouths, in a form of asexual reproduction. The second theory is that these creatures may split apart via budding in order to create new Shadow Maws, as all Shadow Maws discovered share the exact same genetic traits with one another. The third, and most ominous, is that they are not born at all. Rather, each Shadow Maw is an extension of the shadow realm itself, being created from within it at the loss of any currently existing one. Without a means to properly track those that reenter the shadow realm, we may never know, though rumors abound of a new tracking method being developed by Magi that could shed light on them, if this new method passes muster.

The Shadow Maws are ancient, dangerous, and violently spiteful brutes. They come and go as they please in the wild, feeding on whatever they encounter, and go out of their way to destroy Civilized Races they meet in their path of destruction. Some say it is luck that they have yet to appear within and attack a Great Walled City, but there is enough evidence to suggest that Shadow Maws, for all their brutish nature, have some measure of intellect, and know when a fight is too much for even itself to win. [A note is attached. It reads 'That's reassuring, but it doesn't stop my nightmares of these things showing up in the streets outside in the city and just tearing up the place.']

 

[TripleMRed]

Skin-Stripper.

[Sketches depict a large spider, big enough to be the size of a person when not counting its legs. It's exoskeleton is armored with reinforced plates, and its leg tips are tipped with sharp blade like tips. The pedipalps, while lacking proper digits, have segmented plates that allow them some level of proper grasping on whatever they hold. It's head possess 8 eyes, two stacks of four lined above the other, the upper pair slightly further back along the head than the bottom pair. It's mouth is similar to the insectoids of Null, having a jawed structure, with the signature fangs of a spider being integrated into a large set of mandibles flanking the mouth. When the mouth is fully closed, the fanged mandibles curl up the front, vaguely resembling a large mustache like structure. The abdomen is large and holds the silk production organs, which a cut-away reveals are very large. Females have larger abdomens. Disturbingly, one sketch shows the beast skinning, drying, and then using the flayed skin of their prey as a hammock.]

[A note is attached. It reads 'Okay, so like, them using skins as a hammock is really disturbing, but also really metal as all hell.']

Scientific Name Translation: Flaying Fang.

Average Size: 2 meters/6.6 feet long, not counting legs.

Average Weight: 500 lbs/226.8kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are larger than the males, have larger abdomens and have red markings.

Habitat Range: Heavily forested areas..

Summary:​

Arthropods are some of the oldest multi-cellular life on our homeworld of Null, having existed since the earliest days of complex multicellular life in the oceans some 600 million years ago. In the eons since, many distinct branches and families of arthropods have come into existence, with few as intriguing as to the wide world of Arachnids, which includes spiders, scorpions, and other related species. Of these many Arachnids that call Null home, few have as fearsome a reputation, however, as Flayer Spider, known by its contemporary and ancient folk name of the 'Skin-Stripper'. [A note is attached. It reads 'I remember lots of my Spirit friends snickering at hearing the name. Apparently Spirits have these things called 'strip-clubs', where hot chicks and dudes take off their clothes and stuff in front of a crowd for money? I dunno, sounds far fetched to me.']

At 2 meters in length, Skin-Strippers are some of the largest spiders to exist outside of the Land of Giants to the far West. They are relatively light, with much of their weight being in the way of an armored exoskeleton capable of repelling indirect Slugger fire with ease. This lightness, combined with the great strength in their 8 legs as well as a keen silk-spinning ability allows the Skin-Stripper unparalleled mobility in their preferred environments, this being heavily forested regions. The type of forest is not relevant, as over time dedicated subspecies have come to inhabit everything from tropical forests to rainforests alike.

Despite their size, speed, and relative durability, the Skin-Stripper is not all that common. Fossil evidence indicates that only within the last million years or so, their numbers have begun to severely dwindle to modern comparative rarity. The most likely cause is the increase in deadliness among the life forms of Null, as it is a well established fact that as more time passes, the deadlier Null as a world becomes. Despite this, modern day Skin-Strippers have become adept and intelligent hunters who are infamous for their trademark technique. As their name suggests, the Skin-Stripper is infamous for flaying its prey of their skin, which the Skin-Flayer then dries into a leather before adding their webbing into the mix in order to turn the skin into a hammock for themselves. This trademark technique is so ubiquitous among Skin-Strippers that not only has it become their folk name, it has even developed into something of a culture among themselves. Some Skin-Strippers exclusively hunt for the skins of specific prey, while others make do with whatever they can catch. One particular culture actively takes live prey back to their lairs in order to preserve them and wait for optimal conditions for skinning and leather making.

In terms of armament, Skin-Strippers have sharp tipped legs which provide them with excellent cutting and piercing power in close quarters. Their eyes offer them excellent vision even in darkness, and some subspecies posses quill like hairs along their bodies which can sense vibrations in the air, offering them superb sensory information. A volatile acid is produced from their mouths, which is further mixed with venom from their fangs for a dangerous armor destroying substance that also poisons the wearer. Their silk, produced from their abdomens, is durable enough that only the raw strength comparable to Cerberi can hope to rip it apart, thus requiring a sharp blade to cut through it to escape. This silk is resilient to heat and cold, but is highly conductive to electricity. As a result, any modern day Power Armor with a basic electro-stun defense feature can easily escape by electrifying the webs and causing them to disintegrate within a matter of seconds. [A note is attached.It depicts a cartoon Skin-Stripper with an exclamation point over its head as an armored man electrifies its webbing with his PA. Words follow, reading 'Imagine holding your prey down in your super-web, only for it to just start producing a mini-lightning storm.']

In terms of hunting tactics, the Skin-Stripper is highly cautious, spending hours if not days tracking their preferred prey until the perfect opportunity arises to strike. When this happens, the Skin-Stripper attacks quickly and brutally, tying up their prey before injecting them with venom to kill them. Upon confirmation of the prey's expiration, the Skin-Stripper expertly and efficiently uses its sharp-edged limbs to flay the target, with the most experienced managing to perfectly preserve the skin with as few needed incisions as possible. Then feasts on the flesh below before going back into hiding to tan the acquired skin for its uses in attracting mates and for use in regular activities such as sleep.

When mating season arrives, male Skin-Strippers meet in established mating grounds for their kind, bringing with them their collection of skins. Females come and inspect the collections of the various males and decide on which of the most successful they will mate with. Despite what some popular culture would have you believe, female Nullian spiders, Skin-Stripper ones included, do not eat their mates. This is a common misconception, due to identification. They only eat males who fail to meet their standards long before any mating commences. If a male is selected to mate, then his life is not forfeit. After mating, the larger females seclude themselves in dark areas to lay their egg sacs. They then use the collected skins donated to them by their male counterparts to cover up the egg sac for warmth. This skin covering also doubles as nourishment for the young when they finally escape into the world, thus debunking another common myth that spider-young swarm and consume their mothers.

In every day life, with the advent of the Great Walled Cities, Skin-Strippers are growing increasingly less common in the common mental viewpoint. Only the Bug-Hunter Nation continues to keep much attention to them, due to the Bug-Hunters actively hunting and consuming Skin-Strippers as part of a ritualistic ceremony for a special sect of their Hunter's Guild members. When asked on the street of their thoughts on the Skin-Strippers, the spider-like Spirit Race that is the Ira have no real opinion of them, failing to see what relation one would draw between the Skin-Strippers and themselves. As one Ira put it: 'We deal in poisons, potions, and remedies, not butchery.'

[A note is attached. It is a a detailed sketch of an Ira woman. She is an Arachne style tauric individual, with what would be pedipalps acting as legs for her womanly body at the 'head' of her spider body. She possess greyish skin and armored segments lining her arms and 'legs', with a short-muzzled face that have a pair of small, cute fangs poking out of her thin lips. A pair of mandibles flank her mouth, though they appear to be for show more than anything. Five red eyes line her face, two in a conventional position, two above those eyes, and one at the center of her forehead. A pair of pointed, armored ears flank her head, and her purple hair is tied in a bun over her head. She is wearing a skirt and a T-Shirt that seems to be for a band called 'Fire & Fang' that give her well endowed form a sense of modesty. Words follow, saying 'This is Isha, my co-worker at the engineering shop. I always heard Ira were potion makers, but she makes a great engineer!']

 

[TripleMRed]

Bloodsucker.

[Interestingly, the sketch section for this page of the book appears to be covered up by digital notes, all saying 'NO NO NO' on them.

...

...

Beneath the digital notes are sketches of the beast. It is a tall, long limbed and with fine, lanky muscles on its frame. Patches of fur exist to cover up the groin and chest, and a short, furless tail extends out of the base of their spine. It stands digitigrade , sharp inch long claws on its feet, with sketches showing it moving at great speeds thanks to this leg design. The hands are tipped with claws several inches in length, sharp as obsidian and able to cleave through tank plating like it was nothing. The most terrifying aspect, however, is the head: It is canid like, with a long snout and pointed ears, the nose seemingly gone and thus giving the head a skull like quality to it. A pair of large fangs poke out from its lips and some sketches show it smiling, revealing rows of sharp teeth. The eyes are slitted and almost seem to have an unnatural gleam to the in the sketches. Other sketches show the beast feed, draining its victims of their blood as they struggle in their grasp to no avail. Some creatures in the sketches appear distinctly female and are no more horrifying or brutal than their male counterparts.

It is like the unholy fusion between a werewolf and a vampire.]

Scientific Name Translation: Blood Dog, Diabolic Hellhound, Devil Dog, Blood Feeder [An official note is attached. It reads 'Scientific Name under debate.']

Average Size: ~2.7 meters/~9 feet in height,.

Average Weight: 1840 lbs/834.6kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females have more feminine figures and notable breasts which the males lack entirely.

Habitat Range: All Biomes.

Summary:​

Allow me to preface this entry by saying in no uncertain terms that this is a creature that is no longer alive. The Bloodsucker has been hunted to extinction in the wild and is thus now little more than a bad memory for our kind. However, extinct or not, it would do us all well in order to remember the monster that terrorized us and our ancestors for so many centuries, lest we forget the horrors that afflicted us all.

Before anything else, we must go over the details of how these creatures came to be and their relationship with the Civilized Races of Null, particularly us Oros. To begin, the Bloodsucker is not a naturally occurring creature. They were not part of Weaver Null's designs and plans for this world nor for us. These beasts were specifically engineered and unleashed upon the world by an Uplifter, one who was tried, found guilty, and destroyed by the rest of his kind for this action in such a way that not even its name survived to the modern day. What we do know of it is that this Uplifter believed that Null was too easy for the Mortals that called it come, that the Civilized Races did not have enough challenges. Thus, it created the Bloodsuckers, true monsters.

These beasts were first created and unleashed 8000 years ago, about 5000 years before the Prophet Am came into being and a 1000 years after the first modern day Nation arose, the Royalbacks. In this time, the Bloodsuckers were numerous and ruled the world with a cruel and bloody fist. We, particularly the Oros but also the Chimera and Cerberi, were nothing if not cattle for these beasts. Whole towns and villages were kept as feeding stock for the beasts, who marked their personal prey by scarring their faces to deter other Bloodsuckers from taking their property. This period of time lasted about 200 years. The youngest of the races that would have formed the Great Nations, known as the Ghost Dancers in the modern day, were rendered completly extinct. This all changed, however, when the first masks were created. Crafted en masse by the Bloody Ones who had been driven into hiding from the onslaught of Bloodsuckers, the masks hid the faces of the Oros who wore them, causing the Bloodsuckers to lose track of what prey was their own. When they came in close to investigate and find their prey, the united Oros fought back and slayed their oppressors through sheer force of weight and numbers.

With the fall of their dominion over us, the Bloodsuckers, whose numbers had never been truly great, fell into hiding, stalking and striking from deep within the darkest corners of the world. The masks became a common facet of Oros culture from then on and would continue to exist as part of our society until the extinction of the Bloodsucker in recent centuries and the building of the Great Walled Cities. With the deaths of our long-standing predators, many now forgo wearing masks as they see it as a symbol of the old days of fear and pain.

During the time of their existence, the Bloodsuckers were infamous due to their unique ability among all of Null's animal life to feed upon the flesh of Civilized Races. The reason for this is as simple as it is horrible: They were us. Bloodsuckers were constructed by the long dead Rogue Uplifter using the Oros DNA as a base, with Bloodsuckers sharing 99% of the Oros genetic genome. They were made by taking an existing medical condition that results in blood-drinking Oros, known as 'Bloody Ones', and twisting it into the monstrous need to feed that consumed the Bloodsuckers' whole existence. This relationship made their twisted, bestial forms all the more terrifying for the Oros, knowing that these beasts were, on some level, fellow Oros, ones who wished to feed upon the blood of their unaltered kin.

The weapons of the Bloodsucker was numerous. Their teeth and claws could break through virtually any armor with ease, their claws in particular having morphic capabilities that allowed them to be as sharp as obsidian on demand and always harder than diamond regardless of sharpness. These claws also have the ability to leave permanent scars on flesh capable of regeneration such as our own. These claws have are enhanced beyond what is natural, allowing them to cleave through any non-unbreakable material with ease, be it mundane flesh and bone, rune augmented enhanced power armor, or the flesh of the supernatural such as spirits and the like.

Their strength was far in excess to their lithe, lean muscled forms, able to outmatch a Cerberus in open combat. Their speed, agility, and cunning all allow them to excel at ambush, and their vocalizations carried with them an instinctual fear in all who heard it, allowing them to disorient any they encountered. The only saving grace is that the unbreakable bones of their Oros origin were lost in their creation. This is little comfort to those that fought them, however, as their sheer durability meant that even armor piercing railgun shots were unable to breach their skeletal structure with ease, merely cracking and micro-fracturing the impact sites. This durability bordered on the supernatural, allowing them to survive even with the loss of more than 50% of their bodily tissue, with a simple drink of blood being enough to kickstart their healing back to full strength.

The worst quality, however, was their intellect. This intelligence granted them a cruelty and sadism few creatures could match, with Bloodsuckers intentionally leaving some of their victims alive and in agony so their screams of pain could lure in new prey. They have been observed torturing their prey by letting them think that escape is within their grasp, or that they could reach a medical station, only to be dragged away at the last possible second by the Bloodsucker that toyed with them. This intellect also meant they avoided feeding on children outright, even after the loss of their control of the Oros people. This had nothing to do with morality and everything to do with pragmatism: A child is a poor food source compared to an adult and has the ability to produce more of its kind later on. You do not kill the young in a herd, after all, you kill the older members and wait for the young to grow up, have children of their own, and then become possible food in the future. All children who encounter a Bloodsucker have survived, but always with a marking or scar of some kind on their faces to mark them as the future food of that particular Bloodsucker.

Furthermore, the Bloodsucker came in multiple variants. The slower moving Tar-Man variant suffered a defect that causes their Sentinel Bacteria to overproduce, causing them to be drenched in a sludge like material that was flammable but which was thick enough that the flames never reached the Tar-Man below. The Pygmy variant was much, much less durable than the main-line, but made up for it by attacking in packs. The most dangerous of all, however, was the Aetherbane, a beast with access to Aetherworks that allowed the most powerful of them to alter reality on a localized level to suit their needs. All of these were hunted down and destroyed alongside the rest of their kind.

The reproductive methods of the Bloodsuckers was a mystery for a long, long time. Nobody had ever witnessed them mating with one another and lived to tell about it, and males and females of their kind treated each other no differently than they treated others of the same sex. We only know what their young look like thanks to carefully monitored experiments that create new Bloodsuckers by harvesting and combining germ cells from male and female Bloodsuckers slain in the field. These young are wild and animalistic, but surprisingly can be raised to be amicable and non-threatening creatures. This disturbingly indicates that the sadism of Bloodsucker is not, in fact, instinctive: It is learned behavior.

In the thousands of years that document them and their interactions with the Civilized Races of Null, there have been those that break from the norm. Some ignored the Civilized Races entirely, and a handful even acted as protectors to Civilized Races against the rest of their ilk. These shining beacons of decency, however, were nowhere near enough to prevent this predatory species from being marked for destruction. Many rightfully morn the loss of 'the good ones', the Bloodsuckers that rose above their brutal taught natures. In the end, however, their losses were acceptable to destroy this species that actively hunted our kind for millennia.

The last of the Bloodsuckers was hunted down and destroyed in the wild over a hundred years ago as of the time of this writing. The only remaining examples are ones bred in a lab, of which only less than a half dozen remain, and of which are scheduled for decommissioning and storage in stasis pods out of the fear that they may one day turn against us. There are many, most of them of the younger generation that did not live through the ages where Bloodsuckers were in the wilds that argue against this decision. I cannot pass judgement on these young people, for they know not the horrors of the days long passed, though a part of me cannot help but admit that there is reason in their collective voices, that it is wrong for us to treat these lab-borne Bloodsuckers with such fear and suspicion. This is only a small part of me, however, for the rest cannot help but feel relief that this long nightmare for our people may finally be at an end.

---

[A long note is attached here. Words follow, reading 'When I was a little girl, about 7, I was spending time with my grandparents at their home in the old country of the Stonecutters Nation. Grandpa Jol and Grandma Birma. They were these really old, really scarred up Warrior and Tall Body-Type Oros respectively, but they were the gentlest, sweetest souls I'd ever met. They loved the heck out of me and my parents, they took me on all sorts of adventures and taught me all kinds of things about history and right and wrong and so much more. They were the best grandparents a girl could ask for, and they were the only ones I knew of since my mom's parents were long dead by the time I was born. It's actually kinda uncommon for Oros of my day and age to have met even one full set of grandparents. Most only knew one grandma or grandpa that was still alive, most didn't know any.

One night, when I was going to bed, I woke up at night because I'd gotten thirsty. So, I went downstairs all sleepy like because I wanted to get a glass of water, and since I was 7 I was a big enough girl to get it on my own.

The first thing I noticed that was wrong was that my grandparent's room had it's door open. Actually, that's not correct. It wasn't open, it was ripped off its hinges. The second thing I noticed was the blood on the floor that led down the stairs. I'd always been a heavy sleeper who slept through animal attacks before, but there was something different this time. I could smell it in the air: the blood was my grandparents', not some animals. I did the smart thing first and hit the silent alarm button just like my parents and grandparents and school-teachers always taught me to do in an emergency like this....then, I did the stupid thing they told me not to do; I didn't hide, I started to go down the stairs to look for my grandparents.

'Oma?' I called to granny. 'Opa?' I called to grampa. I didn't hear either of them say a word. I kept going down the stairs until I reached the bottom. When I was down there, my little ears finally heard it: Something moving in the kitchen. It took out my My First Survival Knife from my pajama's sheath and, shaking like a leaf and the little idiot that I was, went to investigate.

When I got in the kitchen, there was blood everywhere. The central cooking station had been torn out of the ground and tossed out to the side, embedded in a wall. Laying on the ground was my grandma and grandpa. They were both covered in their own blood and their throats had bites taken out of them. It stood there, shaking, when I realized that there was this big shadow. It wasn't a shadow. It was huge, bigger than grandpa, and it had to squat a bit in order to fit in the kitchen and keep its head from scraping against the ceiling. It was staring at me, these big, unblinking eyes that almost looked like they had these tiny, glowing embers of hate glowing deep within them staring right at me.

My grandparents were dead, and they'd been dead for a good while by this point.

This thing had been waiting down here for me to come after them.

Before I could try and turn and run, it grabbed me. I didn't see it move, one second it was there, the next it was holding me up in the air by my neck with one hand. I tried to scream, but all that came out was choking sobs. My training kicked in and I started trying to stab it in the arm with my knife. It was like trying to stab an Ironwood tree, my attacks did nothing.

The thing stared at me, it's big fangs showing. I think it was smiling, it found my struggle funny. Then, without any other noise and much slower than it needed to, it reached out with its free hand and scooped out my left eye, making sure to sever the nerve with its claws. It dropped me on the floor then as I was sobbing and screaming before it left. It heard gunshots outside, neighbors and the first responders having arrived far too late.

I was real quiet for the next year or so. My parents were heartbroken and angry and all sorts of things, and they never let me out of their sight when I wasn't in school. My eye regrew, but because of the thing's claws when it severed my optic nerve, it grew back mostly blind. I got a Seeing-Eyepatch after that.

I eventually went back to being me, silly, weird Hildra. But my grandparents were still dead and my eye was still janked up. I got Mr. Cool as a pet to help cope, but the nightmares never really stopped. They still haven't on some nights.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm glad these things are extinct in the wild. I'm glad and I hope they stay that way forever.

-Hildra Bergentruckung. You can quote me on that.']

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is a reduced, publicly made available transcript from the Galactic Monitoring Index, written by the Institute of Aerospace Monitoring.]

Planet Name: Null.

Planetary Position: 3rd.

Moons: 2, Yarah Dam/Senora Sanguine (The Elder Blood Moon) and Yarah Mat/Senora Virdis (The Rotten/Green Moon.)// Yarah Mat Distance: 450,000 miles from Null. Yarah Dam Distance: 700,000 miles from Null.

Diameter: 12000 miles/19312.128 kilometers.

Surface Land to Water Ratio: 35 Percent Land, 65 Percent Water.

Atmosphere: 1.07 Galactic Habitable Standard* 02/N2. Level of contamination with foreign bodies bacterial and chemical in excess by several orders of magnitude. Contaminants inhospitable to foreign material.

Gravity: 1 Nullian Gravitic Standard. Exact measurements varies based on some locations, the standard gravity is typically 2.5 the Galactic Habitable Planetary Standard*.

Surface Temperature Range: -200 to 155C/ -392 to 311F. Average surface temperature in most livable regions are around -50 to 50C/ -58 to 122F.

Thaumaturgical Rating: 10 on the Nullian Magic Rating Scale. Comparison with other planetary bodies believed to hold life indicates this is almost thrice the galactic average.

Length of a Day: 30 Hours.

Days in a year: 292. Days in a standard 7 day week in order: Memsday, Thressday, Morchtday, Tulinday, Hamaday, Yulsday, and Faraday.

Arisa Civilized Sapient Population circa 3152 AA:

Median Population Estimated 7.5 billion individuals, 3.4 billion Oros across the various Nations of the Median, 2 billion Chimera and Cerberi, and 1.6 billion Mortalized Spirits, ~500 million Other.

Ogra Population Estimated 8 billion, 5 billion Ogra, 2 billion Mortalized Spirits, 1 billion Western Lasarna, 1 million Other.

Striga-Hyto Population: Estimated 1.8 billion, 1.3 billion Striga, 2 million Oros, 2 million Ogra, 1 million Other.

Lasarnan Republics Population Estimated 3 billion individuals, 2 billion Eastern Lasarna, 1 billion Mortalized Spirits, 1 million Other.

Fahn Dominion Estimated: 4.4 billion, 4 billion Fahn, ~400 million Other

Mycoda Collectives Estimated: ~4 billion Mycoda [Various Variants]

The Kingdom of the Sun Estimated: 9.8 Billion, 5.2 billion Hume Races, 3.2 billion Anima Races, 200 million Eastern War Dragons, 200 million Other.

Notes: *Data collected after careful observation of known galactic bodies and comparing them to our own standards over the course of several hundred years.

 

[TripleMRed]

Civilized Races.


While many creatures on Null could classify as 'sentient', even sapient, few can be classified as 'civilized'. Of these species, only those known to belong to Arisa are known about, as Nod is kept from observation by remaining True Dragon and Stone Eye defense systems there. At the time of this writing, these races are the Oros, the Chimera, the Empusa, the Cerberi, the Ogra, the Gobb, the Striga-Hyto, the Lasarna, the Sun People, and the Mortalized Spirits.

Of these races, the Oros, Chimera, Empusa, and Cerberi are the four naturally occurring Mortal races of Null, with the Mortalized Spirits being either Spirit individuals stuck on Null rather than Lacuna or the descendant of one such individual stuck on Null. The Ogra and Lasarna are species brought to Null via the Uplifters, millions of years ago and 12 thousand years ago respectively. The Oros and those with Oros heritage are the only members of the Civilized Races to have unbreakable bones, though the durability of the skeletal structure of the other races cannot be dismissed.

All of the Civilized Races of Null are compatible with one another, and all have been living together in a unified society of some kind for thousands of years, the various races intermingling for almost as long. The Median itself formed in the year 1501, centuries ago as of the time of this current writing, with it bringing unification to the Civilized Races under the guidance of the Mediator, the eldest sister of the creator of our world, Lady Null, and the unifier of our Nations: Media.

Any member of the Civilized Races can breed with a member of the opposite sex, though the offspring is always of the mother's species. [A note is attached. It reads 'So many interspecies babies, so little time!']

The unifying biological trait among all of the native Mortal races if us sharing the exact same grade of Sentinel Bacteria, the highest grade out of all of Null in fact. This means that no other creature save a fellow Civilized Race can consume our flesh, for if they try, the Sentinel Bacteria react violently and often with deadly results. This grade of Sentinel Bacteria also effectively renders the Civilized Races immune to caustic based damage. The Ogra and Lasarna, meanwhile, are of the second heighest grade of Sentinal Bacteria, making them immune to being eaten by outside forces but not immune from being consumed by other animal life native to Null.

Another unifying quality is how our species' sexual determination works. Chimera, Empusa and Cerberi are always female, or hermaphroditic in the case of the Empusa, due to being mono-gendered races, but Oros and Mortalized Spirits share the same sex determination quality: Ovum within the mother come predetermined with a sex for the individual to be born if this particular egg is fertilized by a father's sperm, which delivers the genetic information from the father to complete the portions missing in the Ovum. As a result, males develop as males and females develop as females, resulting in no sex based chemical imbalances in their biology. As a result, males lack nipples due to lacking mammary glands entirely. It should be noted, however, that Spirits in their natural habitat of the Spirit Realm of Lacuna are able to change their biological sex at will due to being creatures of magic rather than matter and thus are not bound by the same rules as Mortals. Ogra and Lasarna, meanwhile, operate on a more common sex determination method, in which they begin development as females before a sex determinating chromosome determines if they remain as such or become the other relevant sex to their species.

To date, there has not been a single individual of the Civilized Races to have died of old age. Indeed, evidence indicates that we are all biologically immortal and will never truly die of age, but the dangers of our world means that living beyond a few centuries was uncommon for most people. Those that do live for extended periods of time weaken somewhat, but otherwise remain strong and dangerous individuals in their own right.

With all of that said, it is time we gave a look to the various species of the Civilized Races:

-

Oros.

[Sketches depict a species of bipedal, tail-less, short muzzled canines with humanoid proportions and features. They are shown to have a wide emotional range from expressions shown as well as a wide number of cultures based on clothing and armors. Armor seems to be the norm, as are masks, but there are many sketches showing them in daily attire without either such features. When fully nude, females have their sexual features on display, while males have their sexual organs hidden away by a genital slit like fold of skin keeping their genitalia hidden in a bulge like mass on their crotch. This is covered up by fur, giving them a 'featureless' appearance when fully nude and not aroused, with the testicles being internal entirely.]

[A note is attached. It depicts an eyepatch wearing stick-doodle with the words 'iz me' written next to it.]

Scientific Name Translation: Wise Wolf.

[A note is attached. It reads, 'Smart, hell yes. Wise? Depends on the person. Wolf? Eh, I think we're more like doggos myself. We domesticated ourselves!']

Average Size: 6'5-7'8 feet/1.98-2.78 meters tall, depending on Body Type.

Average Weight: 400-1190 pounds/ 181.44-539.78 kgs, depending on Body Type.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: Females are curvier than males, with features male lack like nipples and breasts, as well as longer and better defined hair most of the time.

Habitat Range: All biomes of the Arisa continent.

Summary:​

Of the various Mortal canid species of Null, only one has managed to achieve a full civilization. This species is me. It is likely also you. It is the Oros, the founding member race of the Nations of Null, and the most numerous native sapient species on the Mortal plane of our world. Our species has been through much over the millennia since our evolution into our modern state, but through unified endurance, cooperation, and a little help from more powerful beings, we stand united as the dominant life forms of this world alongside our fellow Civilized races.

The first modern day Oros is believed to have come to fruition some 200,000 years ago, here on our home continent of Arisa. Much of our prehistory is left unknown save for cave paintings and early artifacts, but what we do know is that life was always harsh on our fair planet. Our ancestors worked together using the three Body Types of the Oros people to hunt together and find success. Normal Body Types, though the smallest and physically weakest are naturally the best with ranged weaponry and thus were archers who fell grazing animals after exhausting them from a tireless hunt to tire them out. The physically powerful Warrior body types would then move in to finish off the prey before the Tall's would go on to use their deft hands to gather as much food as possible. [A note is attached. It reads 'The power of teamwork, my dudes!']

Eventually, the wheels of progress turned and the first civilizations came to existence. Farming communities began to sprang up as agriculture and animal taming became more widely known. They were then found and aided by the Great Spirits of Lacuna to develop into the first true great civilizations, though our success would see the wrath of our planet set upon us time and again. The first modern day Nation, the Royalbacks, came into existence some 9000 years ago and would be the parent Nation for a handful of others. The Windrunner Oros technically had a longer civilization before the Royalbacks, though they were different than the modern Nations as we understand them and would become the foundation for the modern day Skyrunner Nation. Sadly, during the rule of savage Bloodsuckers, an 8th proto-Nation known as the Ghost Dancers was rendered extinct. Their blood line persists to the modern day through descendants of those that had children with other Nationalities before their destruction, but as of the time of this writing, no pure blooded Ghost Dancers remain.

What followed were several thousand years of advancement, loss of knowledge, re-advancement, and dark age falls of institutional knowledge as the Nations almost literally warred against the planet itself, as well as internecine wars between each other. This culminated in arrival of the Prophet Am of the Bar in 0 WA (With Am), who hailed from a small group of Oros hidden away from the rest of the world. He would go on to become the founder of the Ambaric Church and, following his ascension into the heavens in 0 AA (After Am), the foundation for the Median would be laid, the 3rd Kingdom.

The 3rd Kingdom only lasted two centuries, but during this time many of the fundamental elements of the modern day Oros cultures were formed. It would not be another 1300 years before the Oros finally settled their differences and formed the unifying Median under the Aether Being Media, who acted as an unbiased intermediary between the various Nations and thus the only truly neutral party to be able to properly rule all of Null. [A note is attached. It reads 'So like, the 3rd Kingdom failed after two centuries because the various Nations of Oros hadn't yet gotten over each other being of different Nations, so it failed. Someone tried to make a 4rth Kingdom afterwords and unify everyone by conquering, but they got beaten by the Prophetess of War, Rosa. So cool.']

Oros have many interesting biological features. For instance, we lack tails despite starting life with them and our teeth are not individuals bones but a part of our skull. Our flesh is highly durable and capable of regeneration and we have a thin but highly dense layer of blubber beneath our skin. As a consequence, however, Oros are highly susceptible to fire as a consequence, though this is very much survivable if the only damage taken is from the flames and not other outside attacks as after a while of being exposed to fire, our musculature produces an oily slick that douses our the flames and prevents us from catch firing again. We also have a high stamina, allowing us to outlast most threats that try to fight us in the first place.

Our people is also subdivided into three main body types. Normal, Tall, and Warrior. Normal's are the most common at about 60 percent of the population and stand on average about 6'5 out of armor. They have excellent eyesight and a steady hand, allowing them to be better marksman than the other types. Tall's have a similar build to Normals, but on average stand around 7'2 out of armor. They have quick hands and fast reflexes, making them unparalleled duelists. Warriors are the biggest at 7'8 on average and well muscled and have the biggest amount of physical power, capable of lifting and hurling light tanks over a dozen meters away. The rough maximum tonnage each Body-Type can carry and throw is around 5-7, 14-17, and around 32.5 tons respectively, though this puts strain on the body to perform consistently without the aid of Power Armor.

There also exists the 'Short' Body Type, but this is a polite nomenclature for members of the respective body-types suffering from dwarfism. They are typically a foot or so smaller than the average height of their Body Type and are more compact as a result. The Yayai fox spirits like to call these individuals 'chibi'. [A note is attached. It reads 'I call them what they are: Shortstacks. What? They're short, and their women are stacked. It fits. XD']

Oros, like most other life, are omnivorous and can sustain ourselves on both plant and animal tissues. However, we are true omnivores and thus require both kinds of tissue in order to remain healthy, as we weaken when exclusively fed one over the other. We also lack Mana Converters, instead having a Second Stomach which holds the food we have converted into a nutrient rich soup and feeds it into our blood stream like fuel in a fuel tank. Anything eaten into the first stomach is rapidly reduced by acid into this 'nutrient soup' for this purpose as 'fuel'.

Our biggest and most important biological features however are our bones. The bones of an Oros were blessed by our creator, Null, to be truly unbreakable. Indeed, nothing save the reality eroding power of the Aether itself can harm these bones we've been given, be it the direct flames of a star or the blade of Great Spirit. They are, furthermore, interconnected by a sort of 'soft-bone' that prevents our skeletons from being pulled apart. These bones are not without their drawbacks, however. They are heavy and dense, making swimming impossible without the use of an old swim bladder organ that barely affords us an hour of swim time, though the Wavechasers have swim bladders that are able to allow them 10 hours of swim time, as we otherwise sink directly to the bottom of the water. [A note is attached. It reads 'I wish I could swim normally. Having bones that can't be broken forged by eldritch beings is nice and all, but just once I'd like to swim in the pool for longer than an hour before I sink like a rock.']
Furthermore, these bones make it difficult to perform surgery in areas protected by them, such as the ribcage, and for the longest time made physical brain ailments impossible to treat, something only possible today with modern technology involving intrusive fiber tendrils through the eye socket. This unbreaking skeletal structure are made unbreakable by unknown Aetheric means, but because of them an Oros requires 11 months to gestate in the womb. This skeleton was a major factor of the UrOros created by Eunoe uncountable universes before our own to do battle with the god-like Sleepers, meaning they were a part of our 'blueprint' when Null herself chose to revive our species.

Our skeletons do not make us indestructible, however. Suffocation or enough damage to our bodies to bleed us out will all result in our kind's end in short order. Indeed, many a young Oros foolishly met their death thinking that their unbreaking bones meant they could not die. If only this was true. Other aspects of our biology include having the highest grade of Sentinel Bacteria alongside our fellow Civilized Races, preventing us from being eaten by all but each other and the now extinct Bloodsucker, redundant organs the same as all Nullians, and biological quirks each Nation has developed over time. [A note is attached. it reads, 'I wish we were indestructible. I miss you so much, gram and gramps....']

Oros have no set biological breeding season, as we are able to produce young the year round. A quirk of our biology, however, means that we don't really have a sex drive until the first time we have sex, after which a mated pair will produce many offspring as long as they are alive. The specifics of the union vary from time period and culture, but typically in ancient times the couple will mate in a secure location while the rest of their people guarded the location from outside.

After 11 months of gestation, an Oros child is born. They are fully functional individuals capable of surviving on their own, and resemble our animalistic canine ancestors more than the people we are as adults. By the time the young have reached their first year, they have begun to stand upright and understand spoken language, though they are clumsy on their two feet for a while. Their tails once they become fully bipedal and plantigrade is reabsorbed into the body and their slightly longer snouts develop into their adult shape as they grow up. Puberty begins at around 13 years of age and is marked by an increased in aggression and destructive desires and is completed at around 18 years of age when they are officially recognized as full adults. Those Oros that do not lose their family's during or before this point typically remain close with their families for years afterward until they finally find a mate of their own. There is no real taboo against interracial couples or marrying any of the other Civilized Races of Null. [A note is attached. It depicts an eyepatch wearing female hugging an Oros puppy. The puppy is blepping. Words follow, reading 'My people's babies are sooooo cute! It's like having a puppy that came out of you! I can't wait to find the right guy to settle down with and have a family of my own. Puppers, puppy, pupperinos. Actually, wait, scratch that, I don't know if I can handle to pressure of being a mom! Oh man, would I mess it up!?']

There are 7 Great Nations of Oros, each comprised of a few smaller but interconnected Nations. These Great Nations each have their own coloration's and biological quirks as part of their heritage.

-The Royalbacks have black fur and a diamond shaped patch of fur on their back with a 'royal' color, from jade to purple and more. Royalbacks are noted for their resilience to disease. They are the first modern Great Nation and are ruled by a dynastic Great Queen.

-The Bughunters are known for their green tinged fur and a 'mask' pattern of fur over their eyes. They are known for their resilience against toxins, and intentionally kept themselves technologically primitive compared to modern day standards in order to avoid the 'notice' of the planet. This worked and thus for the longest time they were the Nation with the highest population of Oros, though the Great Walled Cities are starting to close the numbers gap.

-The Firebrands have red and rust tinted fur and are known for their higher tolerance for flames for a limited time. They live in the volcanic Southern Heat Plains and are famous for their unusually loud and boisterous attitudes compared to the more reserved traditional attitudes of other Oros, as well as a fondness for drinking, though the love of drink is a cultural aspect rather than a biological one.

-The Icebreakers are snow white and have an inherit resistance to the cold. Residing in the frozen north, They are a people known for their stoic attitudes and frown upon open displays of emotion towards non-Icebreakers, though this attitude is slowly melting as time goes on. They are well known for their technological advances and are the premier tech development Nation in the Median.

-The Stonecutters are a brown furred people who live in the stormy mountains and have a resistance to electricity. They are famous for their mining and their peoples closeness with Aetherworks, with much of their more advanced technology involving Aether-Tech embedded in stone. They're most well known for their Nation being turned into a mining colony for the Royalbacks before breaking off and successfully ceding millennia ago, redeveloping a culture and personality all their own.

-The Wavechasers are a blue tinged people with many tattoo like fur markings. They take to the seas in the eastern shores and are known for their dynastic empire ruled by an emperor. Their bright red colored Raiders were an infamous military unit in their early years fighting wars between the various Nations, though in the modern day they primarily make up the Media's wet navy and fishing industries.

-The Skyrunners with tan and sandy colored fur an interesting tattoo like facial markings in their fur patterns. They hold the record for the oldest continuing civilization of the Oros peoples, hailing from the interior North Eastern Dune Sea, and were the second modern Nation formed after the Royalbacks. They are a people with a love for the air and thus are responsible for the development of the modern day Aerial Fleet that protects the Great Walled Cities. A spiritual and friendly people.

Together, these 7 Great Nations form the Nullian Union, also known as the Median. For over a 1500 years, we've stood tall together and have begun to enter our space age, with our first space elevators soon to come online and the first of our airships to be converted into space capable vessels. The exact culture of each Nation varies, further varying based on subcultures wtihin and the individual practices among clans and families. No matter the differences, however, all Oros are tightly nit between each other and the other Civilized Races to live alongside us. It isn't perfect, but we all stand together on this hellhole we call a homeworld and for that, we're all one people. It just took us a while to realize that and stop the squabbling between Nations.

Our past may be shrouded in misery and woe, but our future among the stars is looking bright. Shine on, you blazing star. [A note is attached. It reads 'Ha, that's a reference to Starshine! Don't think we didn't notice!']

-

[A note is attached. It reads, 'So, I've been doing doodles and drawings and sketches for a long time now. I've decided to go ahead and do some sketches of my fellow Oros from around the city I live in in this new artstyle I've been developing. All of these guys are my friends I got to know from work. Who knew being a military engineer would see you meeting so many different people? Oh wait, that's just how that works. XD

Uploading these now.'

What follows are sketches drawn by the note maker:

'I also did one on Media herself from this one conference she did.'

]

(Special thanks to Jen for this wonderful commissioned art!)

 

[TripleMRed]

Oros, Addendum.

-

While the Oros page has been a part of my Encylopedia since the beginning, minus the updates done due to changing dates, some information had been intentionally left out of older editions due to being requested by other parties, which I honored. However, recent developments in recent years have opened up the possibility that I can include knowledge of these elements into my Encylopedia. As the Oros page is long enough as it is, I have decided to add this additional page to include the additional information not included in the main page. Here we go. [A note is attached. It reads 'I'm really happy this page was added in 7th edition. It helped me explain things to those new people that wound up on Null a few years back. It's gotta suck to be the Displaced like that, but I'm sure they'll get used to living here eventually! I've got a friend among them, a dog-girl named Gloria who found all of this really helpful!']

Oros Conditions.

The Oros as a people have some conditions, ailments, and even blessings that can be passed down our lines. These conditions range from severe and life altering to minor and almost unnoticeable. Some of the biggest and most well known of these conditions are as followed.

-KillJoy. KillJoys are Oros who have a defect in part of their nervous system responsible for giving feedback when an Oros kills a hostile target. In a regular Oros, a sense of relief is given when we slay an enemy trying to kill us, with perhaps a sense of satisfaction depending on the individual and if they were performing a task such as hunting. KillJoys, however, have a defect in this portion of the nervous system that, rather than feeling relief at surviving an enemy and killing them in turn, the KillJoy, as their name implies, feels a sense of elation, euphoria, and happiness upon killing something. Furthermore, the target does not have to be hostile for a KillJoy to feel this happiness. KillJoys who discover this about themselves have been known to develop an almost psychotic need to kill, becoming addicted to the sense of happiness that killing brings for them. All KillJoys, however, instinctively cannot bring themselves to imagine, much less actually harm, someone they consider family to themselves. It is literally unthinkable for them despite their condition.

If found early on and given proper treatment, KillJoys can be socialized into relatively normal, functional members of society, no more a threat to their neighbors than they are to their own family. If not treated, however, most KillJoys are unable to stop themselves from getting addicted to the happiness they receive from killing, and thus easily jump the slippery slope into becoming dangers to themselves and those around them. In ancient times, KillJoys were banished to the wild to find find their deaths doing what they love, slaying creatures in the wild. In the modern day, KillJoys are rounded up for treatment in psychological facilities dedicated to defusing their addiction. Results are mixed, however. [A note is attached. It reads 'I have a cousin who is a Killjoy. She is pretty normal, but she gets really happy when she starts stomping on a bunch of ants and kinda loses track of time when she does it. Always creeped me out.']

Interestingly, KillJoys regardless of their state of mind are not sadistic where they can help it. They do not take pleasure in the act of torture or inflicting pain: Their condition only rewards them with happiness upon confirmed killing of a target. As a result, KillJoys make for poor torturers as they fail to see the point in infliting unneeded pain when their goal is to kill a target as quickly and efficiently as possible.

KillJoys are fairly rare, as only a few hundred thousand Oros and individuals of Oros bloodline possess this condition.

-Bloody One. Probably the most well known and famous condition, Bloody Ones are Oros with longer canine teeth and a drive for drinking blood. These individuals and their condition were the basis from which the Forgotten Uplifter created the Bloodsuckers. Indeed, historically, the advent of the Bloodsuckers saw a mass exodus of Bloody Ones into the wilds of Null to escape destruction at their twisted parody's claws. Most of these Bloody Ones would be united and form what would become known as the Crimson City in the depths of the Sanguine Rainforest in central Arisa, where they banded together for survival and where they developed and unleashed their plan to develop and send out masks to the rest of Oros kind to begin the rebellion that ended the reign of the Bloodsuckers.

An average Bloody One is a fairly normal individual, though they are more outgoing on average and with a zest for life. Their condition means they require a semi regular intake of fresh blood, however it does not discriminate. The blood of people or animal does not matter: as long as it is relatively fresh, even a blood pack of animal blood will suffice to tide them over for a while. If they are denied their semi regular blood drinking, however, Bloody Ones become increasingly unwell until they finally snap in a blind rage that sends them into a feeding frenzy. For this reason, they are often untrusted despite the unlikeliness of them not receiving their blood intake in the modern age.

Bloody Ones are passionate and hot blooded on average, though cooler headed and reserved ones have been known to occur. They are also unique in that they are driven by desire to find a mate to procreate with to continue their blood line, an unusual difference from the usual Nullian sex drive. Between their longer canines and their outgoing personalities, most Bloody Ones can be spotted at a glance by those who know what to look for. [A note is attached. It depicts a fairly good drawing of a smiling Oros, who has longer canine teeth than the norm.]

As a matter of safety, Bloody Ones are all registered with the government and tabs are kept on their government provided bloodpack donations. Bloody Ones make up approximately 5% of the Oros population, meaning that 1 out of every 20 Oros is one. [A note is attached. It reads 'Is it weird that I don't have any family I know of who is a Bloody One? They're relatively common, but nope. Nobody in my family is one.']

-Throwbacks. A term used to describe about 1% of the Oros population that, due to a quirk of genetics, never actually lose their tail upon developing into their bipedal forms. Historically looked at as oddities in their community, Throwbacks in the modern day are seen as the least intrusive or important condition as its consequences are both benign and easily able to be worked around.

-'Tweaked'. Oros with neurological differences that make them stand out compared to the average are said to be 'tweaked' in the head. This is a general term for any neurological difference that falls outside of the norm. For example, KillJoys are considered a type of 'Tweaked'. A more common type are 'Happy's', which are Oros who defy the characteristically softspoken and stoic nature of most Oros who have lived past their first century. Happys are outspoken and joyful despite all the troubles around them. This isn't to say they cannot be sad or not feel other emotions, but rather they look on the positive side of things rather than expecting the worst that most older Oros come to think. With the creation of the Great Walled Cities, more and more youth's who develop in relative safety are beginning to show signs of developing into 'happys', indicating that this neurological condition might be more common than expected, it is simply not as potent in some individuals as in others, thus allowing them to have their hopes and dreams crushed by the harsh life outside of the walls. [A note is attached. It reads 'Yup, that's me! Weird, tweaked Hildra! Mom and dad were always concerned that something was wrong with me given how happy I was as a kid, but my grandparents when they were still around told them they were worrying about nothing. I know it's weird to be so happy all the time, but in a world as sad as ours, someone needs to be happy, right?']

Other forms of Tweaked exist, though their commonality drops sharply beyond the 'Happy's most think of when they think of a 'tweaked' individual.

-Am's Blessed. It is no secret that the Prophet of Peace was a blessed individual, capable of bringing peace to all life wherever he went. After his ascension into the heavens, many individuals began to be born with what is described as 'Am's Blessing'. These individuals are have an instinctive and supernatural ability to peacefully calm down all but the most belligerent of wild life around them. As a result, many of them go on to become famously important vets and other wildlife experts in the field. Their rarity, however, means that only a few tens of thousands of them exist in the world.

-Wildchildren. Oros have an interesting developmental factor. Children are born with a mental connection with their parents. For complete, healthy mental development, both parents need to be alive for an Oros to develop properly, though if at least one parent remains alive, a child can develop into a fairly normal individual in due time. If an Oros child loses both parents before a certain age, however, then they become dispondant and lost, aggressive to non-family members and acting very strangely around non-parental family members. The specifics vary immeasurably based on the individual child in question, but the one thing that is for sure is that these children develop differently into different people than if they had at least one parent alive to aid their development along. [A note is attached. It reads 'My Mom was a Wildchild that had to be raised by her aunt and uncle. Apparently, she had a taste for rats. Even when there was actual people food, she would ignore it and go hunt rats. She says she still has a taste for rat to this day.']

 

[TripleMRed]

(Hey everyone, it's me, the author.

I apologize for the long absence, a mixture of RL and other Quests has caused me to lose track of time and thus I had to put this story to the wayside.

Now, I should set something straight, I greatly enjoy writing this story. I find it fun to write, fun creating these creatures and setting up this whole world chock full of lore and the like. However, while I can clearly see from the vote up above that there is a clear and present audience for this story, I'm left unable to bring myself to keep writing due to an uncertainty as to what, exactly, it is that brings my readers here to enjoy my stuff.

So I ask you guys, what is it about this story that you like? The creatures? The glimpses of the world, the owner's notes, the lore, what?

If I can find out what it is you guys enjoy so much in clearer words, I can feel more confident in my writing and find out what you'd like more of. Now, obviously, we've still got a LOT of creatures to go through, but what else would you guys to see more of? Do you like the side-story stuff, would you like to see more 'Goods of the World of Null' posts, more Power Armor stuff, other kinds of bonus lore entries?

My RL is still busy and my schedule isn't as flawless as it used to be, but I intend to try and get a new update this month, with new side-story content based on what you guys ask for, stuff like that.

I again apologize for the long absence, and cannot promise you that another haitus like this won't occur eventually in the future, but until that happens, I'm hoping to post more often than I don't. Current goal: At least one update a week at max, at least one a month. Bare with me guys, and we'll see this story reach it's end and the Encylopedia completed sooner rather than later.

So yeah, what is it you guys enjoy the most about this story and what would you like to see more of? I'll be crossposting this with all the forums this is on, so I'll be taking all of the feedback into consideration!)

 

[TripleMRed]

[The following is an exerpt from a weekly article providing news on the world of Sports on Null, imaginatively titled 'Sports News Weekly', this one dated years prior to the current date.]

It's another good week to be a sports fan as we have several up-coming matches across numerous competitive games this sports season.

In the world of Boom-Ball, the finalist teams for this years championship finales are down to up and coming underdogs Steelwater's District 3 Saints and the current three-time champions, the Hamsaya City Royals. Last week's explosive game saw the Saints win their way to the championship finales against their long time rivals, the Traummond Shinooks, with the Saint's star player Nass Mondzahn performing a Flourish to take the Shinook's lead player Ash Tasoth out of the game before moving in for the goal, planting the Boom Ball and ending the game with an explosive detonation that sent the entirity of the enemy team flying!

Richochet fans meanwhile are gearing up for the mid-season play-offs, with the first game featuring Hama's Panzers against Rahls Ravagers. Hama's stunning victory at the end of the first half of the season against Coilland's Plenty saw rookie player Cass O'caya pulling Hama's team out of the jaws of defeat by managing to go two to one against Coilland's remaining players and taking out both with a calculated throw that saw her bounce-ball hit one then the other in a two-for one 'Double-Trouble' throw. Many veteran players are impressed by to see such an expert move of calculating prowess come from such a new and unseasoned player. Many say this speaks of a long and excellent career awaiting young Cass, though we will see if she can maintain such expert level richochets going forward or if this was a lucky one time trick for the newcomer.

Memsday Night Combat continues it's ongoing competition for newblood teams of rookies to try and defeat current reigning team 'The Enemy Doesn't Care What We Call Ourselves Do They' in their challenge for such newbie groups to try and defeat them in at least 1 round of a 5 round match for the grand prize of a 1 Million Dollup per player payout and a sponsorship deal by TEDCWWCODT for the rookie team that manages to accomplish the challenge. So far, none of the 25 teams that have participated have managed to beat TEDC's challenge of winning at least one round, though the most recent team called 'Fireteam Sanguine' has managed to earn a second try after managing to, against all odds, have at least one team member survive one round and even tie with TEDC's score not once, but twice.

On the topic of Ties, Heavy Weight Combat Boxing continues to see up-and-coming Spirit League Champ Mae Lee once again tie with 7 time world Oros Champion Hoxton Tanner. Mae Lee, a Mortalized Erui tiger Spirit, has had her 4th tie-breaking match against Firebrand champ Hoxton which once more has ended in a tie for both champions. Some experts believe that these two titans of heavy weight combat may indeed be each other's truest match, with few if any having any concrete belief on who, if either, will ever be able to truly win against the other.

In the world of Duelist Competitive Championships, the ongoing Tournament has seen an unexpected victory when Loray Meetra managed to break her opponent, one Kayla Torres's, blade with a mighty swing of her Axe-Scythe, only for Kayla, undeterred by her weapon's broken state, to slip past her opponent's guard and jam both the tip of the blade and the broken handle in between sections of Loray's plate armor. While overall points were deducted for bloodshed, Kayla ultimately was given the win for the duel by the judges and even recieved high praise from her opponent. "It takes a special kind of duelist to not give a damn of having a broken weapon and still find a way to achieve victory." Loray has gone on record saying after recieving modest medical aid for her injuries before her regen kicked in.

In non-competitive news, the world of Sports Shooting, a staple of Normal Oros sports events, is still out of season until the end of the year, but it has seen a notable upswing in new participants in out-of-season play and training. The Displaced, as those brought to our homeworld have been known to be called, have seen a large number of athletes begin to get into the native sports scene in the five years since their initial arrival. While bringing their own sports from their original home, many Displaced have a noted insterest in trying to participate in Nullian classics.

'I've always liked guns, kinda had to on the mean streets back home, but being able to shoot guns at targets like it's freaking golf? Count me in!' Says one Raptor based Displaced by the name of George Smith.

'Golf', for those unaware, is a sport native to the Displaced's original home culture, which involves hitting a small white ball with a specialized club to send it flying towards a small hole dozens or even hundreds of meters away. This sport, practiced in a manner akin to Sports Shooting, has taken the interest of numerous Nullians who have flocked to observe the Displaced game being played on makeshift golf courses.

For racing fans out there, the Median Knight's Great Walled City Hover-Bike Racing Circuit continues to be closed due to the on-going conflicts across numerous fronts including against Spider-Ants, Mother Roots, and the remnants of the Dark Spirit Crisis requiring the attention of the Median's armed forces. No official comment has been given when, exactly, there will be a return to the racing circuits. Many fans, while disapointed, are understanding, with those at the Great Walled City that birthed the GWC Racing Circuit, Dreamhold City, to eagerly await their beloved home-town sport's renewal.

To end off this week's sports news, another Season of Champions in Arara's Golden Arena has begun, with the Great Spirit of Loot herself presiding in an opening ceremony that saw this season's competitors starting strong across various combat, platforming, and problem solving trials. Competitors both returning and new are particularly excited over this Season's loot rewards, ranging from gilded melee weapons to a set of custom made Aurum Champion armors and weapons as the current Seasonal rewards for all competitors who succeed in winning all of the Season's challenges.

That's it for for this week's news, sports fans, but we'll see you again next week at the same usual time for new updates and new stories to tell!

-

[What follows is an excerpt from 'Musicians Digest Monthly' on new released by various musical artists.]

The music scene has been witness to several new releases this month, from old favorites to newer artists breaking ground to make themselves a place all their own.

Taking the world by storm with their new 'pop' stylings, the Displaced have seen several musical stars find an audience both among their own people as well as Nullian kind. Among these stars, canine pop idol Eileen Ferris has released two new singles, 'High Rise' and 'Trouble Boy', while fellow primate pop star Kenzie Thomas is currently working on her as of yet untitled new album, set to release later this year. Kenzie is famous for her debut new album with heavy tones and themes criticisng the old world the Displaced come from, titled 'Shattered Faith', something welcomed by both the Displaced for its unapologetic and critical look at the government and corporate systems of the old world among other things, while Nullians find it a fascinating and unadulterated look into life in the old world from which the Displace hail from. Rumors exist of a possible collaboration between the two pop stars, though there has yet to be any sort of official announcement or confirmation.

Coming straight from Hurkora's Recording Hall, Oros opera singer Jassete ChuGora's latest piece continues to bring recognition to the Mortal from the Hurko Spirit race, who find her melodies and tunes 'familiar yet distinct'. The Great Spirit of music herself, Hurkora, has gone on to say that her biggest regret was not signining Jassete on to be her own personal Mortal musician, a fact that Jassete is quick to say some words about. "She's just being humble, I can't dare to come close to matching her musical talents or ear. Still, if she likes me, I must be doing something right, no?" Jassete is currently set to have a live concert tour across several of the Great Walled Cities, including Steelwater, Traummond, New Cambaria, Tenebraum, and Dreamhold City.

On the terms of more classical stylings, old school big band group 'The Clovers' have confirmed their latest album has been delayed indefinitly due to the destruction of their recording studio and equipment in the latest beast raid to assail their home town of Juniper Hall. The Clovers had for the longest time refused to move to a Great Walled City for a multitude of reasons ranging from solidarity with their fellow Juniper Hall townsfolk as well as the belief that the move to a new and unfamiliar location might have an affect on their musical stylings, which focus on a somber tone for the genre. With this latest disaster, which has seen much of Juniper Hall destroyed in an unusually powerful and dangerous animal raid coordinated by Spider-Ants, many of the remaining inhabitents are without homes and have lost their faith in the 'old way' of living in 'old fashioned' towns such as their home. The Clovers have confirmed that, after some debate, they will be moving alongside their fellow Juniper Hall towns people to the nearest GWC of Juniper Hill.

Coming out more recently, the electro-swing collaboration between DJ Skully and DJ Scarface has seen a mostly positive reception from their fans, both Nullian and Displaced alike. when asked seperately for comment about their collaboration partner, both DJ's had only one thing to say about the other: 'I like his style.'

On more tragic news, the current band for the world famous Berserker Paladin Theater Troupe has suffered a great loss as two of their current band-mates have fallen on the line of duty. As always, the exact identities of the current Theater Troupe composition remains a closely guarded secret, but it has been confirmed that a private service will be held within the Paladin Order's headquarters. Their last album, Rain of a Thousand Iron Fists, will be the last album to contain the latest iteration of the Troupe's musical band. Reports confirm that the surviving members of the current Troupe, in honor of their fallen pack-mates, will disband and open the way for the next iteration of the band to replace them.

(Eileen Ferris and Kenzie Thomas belong to some pleasant fellows I've met on Discord called Shocken and Iselwyr respectively. Their characters appear as cameos among the Displaced populace in this setting.)

 

[TripleMRed]

(Howdy Guys, I had the Hammer line of weapons from here commissioned into some art pieces showing what they look like!

Pinhammer:

Jackhammer:

Sledgehammer:

Feel free to head on over to the artist's relevant Deviantart pages and be sure to give him plenty of support!

https://www.deviantart.com/fluffywolf36/art/Maddock-Industries-Pinhammer-V10-Pistol-876691669

https://www.deviantart.com/fluffywolf36/art/Maddock-Jackhammer-V10-Rifle-876697746

https://www.deviantart.com/fluffywolf36/art/Maddock-Arms-Sledgehammer-V10-DMR-876700819

Each page has more lore and info on the respective weapons and other lore goodies, for those of you who enjoy such things! For those of you who can't access DA for whatever reason, however, here's the relevant lore in their respective pages.

Spoiler: Maddock Industries 'Pinhammer V-10' Pistol

This massive pistol (or depending on who you ask, small rifle) was created by Maddock Industires as a companion side-arm for their Jackhammer and Sledgehammer line of rifles. tTe Pinhammer is widely well regarded by users of its previous incarnations for its sturdy construction that makes it an excellent bludgeon in a pinch, while being an excellent side-arm to be paired with a melee weapon in the user's main hand. The current V-10 model, the latest of its kind, was planned to have an automated paint reconstruction capability alongside with its self-maintenence subroutines, though this was scrapped for the final production models due to bizzare inconsistencies and glitches in the paint-reconstitution efforts.

The Pinhammer comes with a wide variety of customization options, such as longer barrels, sights, flashlights, extended mags, foregrips, stocks, and even fire selectors for burstfire or even full-auto. For those who see it as a little too much for a pistol or need something lighter, it's very easy to modify it into a carbine.

In carbine mode, it can be equipped with Grenade launchers, flamethrowers, rail shotguns, electroshock zappers, and bayonets. You could attach these while just using it as a pistol - you could - but it would be extremely front-heavy and we do not recommend.

Displaced Customer note*
"Created for use against the flora and fauna of Null, which ranges from lethal, to outrageously lethal, to 'warrants the use of antiarmor weaponry.' It holds 18 rounds of .50 caliber 'slugger' microrockets, and it's built expressly for people that don't have a concept of overkill, just 'dead' and 'reload'." If you see yourself being caught with your pants down in the face of some kind of beast made of murder and knives, all out of ammo for your longarm, you can't go wrong with this one.

It also comes with a free bayonet!

*Displaced are new-comers to Null, individuals brought to the Deathworld against their own will by this world's magical monstrosities and with little choice other than to live alongside the Nullians due to lacking any ways of getting back home.

Spoiler: Maddock Industries 'Jackhammer-V10' Rifle

"You can always tell when it's a Displaced picking up a Jackhammer for the first time. Maybe they've seen how many bullets the animals can take, or maybe they've just never seen a rifle so meaty.



"...meaty?"



"Yeah, you know. Meaty. Makes a big boom, sounds and feels satisfying, turns targets into raw meat."
Conversation between an Oros Knight and a Displaced weapon enthusiast.




A steady and stand-by classic of Maddock Industries, the Jackhammer remains a popular weapon for both rookies and experts in the field due to it's extremly solid construction allowing it to be used as a blunt-force melee weapon while reliably capable of being used even with extensive damage to its structure, allowing it to double as an excellent make-shift shield. The Jackhammer's V-10 model, the most current version out on the market, had been delayed from final release due to the discovery of a previously unseen defect in the factory standard holo-sights baked into the weapons as standard. Unwilling to go through another V-3 Defect Incident and recall, it was wisely decided to move the final release back several months in order to avoid a repeat of that ancient drama.

The Jackhammer comes with a wide variety of customization options, such as longer barrels, sights, flashlights, extended mags, foregrips, stocks, and even fire selectors for burstfire or even full-auto. It can also be equipped with Grenade launchers, flamethrowers, rail shotguns, electroshock zappers, and bayonets.

Displaced Customer note*

I got a chance to try this thing out on the range and it's weight actually works to its advantage: All that stuff up the front means as long as you hold the trigger down and have steady hands, you'll stay on target for pretty much the entire mag. Not sure if you'll be bothered by the weight even if you'll feel it, due to that whatever the hell those squid things did to us to allow us to keep up with the locals. Just don't question it enough that you slow down in a heavy situation and get eaten or deboned or something."

*Displaced are new-comers to Null, individuals brought to the Deathworld against their own will by this world's magical monstrosities and with little choice other than to live alongside the Nullians due to lacking any ways of getting back home.

Spoiler: Maddock Industries 'Sledgehammer-V10' DMR

"So it doesn't have the range of a railgun or gauss gun, the round is slower... what the hell does this thing have that a railgun doesn't?"



"It hits like a truck."



"Yeah. I've got the bruises on my shoulder to prove it."



"That all? You ever seen what this will do to the other guy?"

As the latest iteration of the Sledgehammer line of DMRs, the V-10 continues to use the heavy .65 caliber 'Long' sniper Slugger rounds ranged weapon enthusiests have come to know and love. When accompanied with the proper scope, the Sledgehammer has an effective range of nearly 7 miles, paltry compared to the rail sniper rifles beloved by Rangers, Hunters, and Trackers, but more than enough to provide fire support from anywhere in direct line of sight to a battlefield. Experienced Normal Body-Type Oros in particular have been known to make the best use of this due to their instinctive capabilities with ranged combat, managing to consistently hit targets from miles off even in the chaos of the modern battlefield. Despite this ranged capability, the power of the V-10 means that it's more than excellent in close range and medium support roles as well, allowing Hunters, Knights, and Guardians alike to have some accurate heavy firepower during hunts and Spider-Ant hive raids alike.

Displaced Customer note*
'Now, I tried the Sledgehammer and heard all the hype about it. I don't think any of us who've fallen in love with the local guns haven't. So I was pretty surprised and unimpressed with how it took a couple of rounds to reliably kill any of the small fry stuff like those Wolf-Hound things, nevermind the number of mags you go through to fight against stuff like the Slinkers or Wolf-Tigers. Hell, I saw a buddy of mine accidentally eat a round from one of these on the range because he was an idiot, and all he got was this relatively small hole that his new regen fixed up in a couple of seconds flat. I started to complain about it being a rip off, and immediatly shut up when I saw some weapon tests on dummies specially designed to mimic our durability back before we came here and got changed to match the locals. I just.....That can't be right, right? People back home don't just.....turn into mist when shot by a [expletive]ing DMR round from around here, right? Right?

I'm not sure if I'm intrigued or unsettled about the heavier things we can get our hands on..."
*Displaced are new-comers to Null, individuals brought to the Deathworld against their own will by this world's magical monstrosities and with little choice other than to live alongside the Nullians due to lacking any ways of getting back home.

The artist of these lovely pieces is one fluffy, so be sure to give him all your love and support!)

 

[TripleMRed]

Chimera.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of tall serpentine beings. Their feet are digitigrade, with three large, flexible clawed toes providing the base for them to walk along with, with an additional pair of smaller but flexible 'thumb' toes higher up on the foot, one on each side. Sketches show these five toes can work together to grasp and grab items or to take hold of objects or creatures both for practical and pragmatic reasons, such as in combat. Their bodies lack immediately visible sexual characteristics other than their curves and seemingly featureless breasts, though close analysis shows their intimates and nipples are hidden behind sections of scaled slits that cover and protect these sections when not in use. The necks are relatively long, flanked by cobra like hoods and ending in snouted serpentine faces, their mouths lined with sharp teeth indicating an omnivorous nature, their fangs being large and fixed to the skull, not hinged. Their tails are long and large, ending in a broad section that opens up in a large mouth like section. A two pairs of massive fangs, two on each jaw of the 'tail mouth' exist, and cut always indicate that the 'throat' leads to some form of array of glands.

Interestingly, there is a wide variety of differences between each Chimera: While their base form does not change, each one has a different set of features such as armor types, placements, and more, as well as what look like subspecies variations.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'I sometimes wish I was born as a Chimera. Having a tail-mouth that acts as a chemical cannon sounds freaking awesome!']

Scientific Name Translation: Blood Mother.

Average Size: 8'6/2.591 meters tall.

Average Weight: 1440 pounds/653.173 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, mono-gendered species.

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

There is no denying that our world is one of many oddities. Some are caused by freak mystical fusion accidents, or unexpected mutations, or evolution going in unexpected places. The Chimera of our world, one of the 4 native Mortal Races, is among these oddities alongside their sister races. The Chimera in particular are a large, powerfully built race of bipedal, serpentine esq mono-gendered beings who are exclusively female, with no known naturally occurring male Chimera having ever been recorded. Despite their scaley, reptilian appearances, the Chimera are in fact placental mammals, including having fully functioning breasts whose teets are hidden away by a layer of folding scales. These same scales also exist at their groins, folding over their nether regions and providing an armored protection for them. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Guys have their junk stored up by folding layers of reinforced skin. Chimera and Empusa have their junk and nips covered up by armored scales. Why is it the rest of us have to go around without any extra protection for?! That's so unfair! >']

The Chimera are one of the three 'Chimeric' Mortal Races of Civilized beings, being the Chimera themselves as well as their offshoot the Empusa and the Orosoid hybrids known as Cerberi. All three races share certain attributes, such as the ability to breath out fire or a mawed tail, as well as all three being mono-gendered, all members of their various races being female. What is interesting is that, despite their numerous differences compared to us, the Chimera and their sister races are, in fact, related to us.

Millions of years ago, a progenitor species of what would become the Oros and Chimera split into two distinct species of primitive seal like creatures. While the Orosoid line would go on to give rise to many modern day mammalian species like canines, felines, and ursines, the Chimeric subspecies split off into a less successful, but remarkably resilient subspecies. It is difficult to say precisely when and how the exact characteristics that make Nullian Chimera the recognizable race they are today came in, but it is generally agreed upon that all the linked attributes, from their mawed tail to their armored scales to their mono-gendered status, all hail from the same event, presumed mutagenic in nature. Regardless of the exact causes, the Chimeric line would reach the land alongside their Orosoid kin and would share the Arisa continent with them for the ensuing 15-12 million years it would take for the first modern Oros and Chimera to arise.

It was around during this time where members of the two species encountered one another and males of the Oros' distant direct ancestors would interbreed with the Chimera's own direct ancestors. While some biologists are unsure of how such two differently diverged specimens could produce viable hybrids, what can be said with certainty is that these crossbreedings between the two distinct family lines are what gave rise to the direct ancestors of what would become the Cerberi. [A note is attached. It features a drawing depicting a cartoon snake with stick figure arms followed by a plus sign followed by a cartoon dog, which leads to an equal sign and ends with a three headed buff cartoon dog with round orbs on the chest seemingly meant to represent breasts.]

The first Modern Chimera is believed to have come into being at roughly the same time as the first Oros, around 200,000 years ago on Arisa. Similar to the Oros kin, much of early Chimera history is shrouded in mystery due to the incredibly harsh nature of the world at the time, however a decidedly larger number of Chimera cave paintings survived into the modern day compared to Oros ones due to the fact that the Chimera have, for the longest time, made their homes within caverns and cave systems. It was in the caves of Arisa that the first Chimeran Cavern Cities were made, the largest and most intricate growing to rival the largest Oros settlements at the time.

Sadly, despite our ancestors brief unification that resulted in the Cerberi, relations between Chimera and Oros have not always been the most clean. Oros, particularly early Oros, were always suspicious and paranoid of the world around them and new creatures within, while young, unblooded Chimera are filled with adventurous zeal and curiosity. The two forces meeting had, for many thousands of years, resulted in brutal bloodshed on both sides. Eventually, at around 9036 BA, the first recorded civilized contact between Chimera and Oros occurred, with both sides realizing the other were not enemies by default but victims of misunderstandings on the other's part. While this would not stop discrimination and bloodshed on both sides entirely for another two thousand years, it would be the start on the road to peace as trade between the two related races began in earnest. [A note is attached. It reads, 'At least most of the racial tension stuff between our species is long over by now. I don't want to imagine a world where I don't have Chimera cousins!']

One of the biggest and most important events in modern Chimera history occurred within the 1280's, only 220 years before the arrival of Media and the creation of the Median. In this decade the two final prophets of the AmBaric faith, the Prophetess of Mercy and War respectively, were enlightened and given their roles. Both were Chimera, Corida the Prophetess of Mercy and Rosa, the Prophetess of War. It would be these two who united the various Nations to stand against the forceful conquest of the 4th Kingdom, with Rosa leading the final assault on the stronghold of the Kingdom herself. When the time came for both to ascend into the heavens, Rosa petitioned to stay further in an effort to try and create what she referred to as an 'Force for Peace'. Her efforts remain cloaked with mystery over the ages, but it is known that by the time she finally ascended into the heavens a hundred years after declining her original ascension, she had been unsuccessful in creating her force. [A note is attached. It reads 'Turns out, it existed. And we had to fight it. Turns out, spirit powered robots is a great idea on paper, but falls flat when it always leads to the Spirits powering them going nuts and, well.....Yeah, the Dark Spirit War wasn't too fun when they had hordes of magitech robots to back them up.']

The Chimera posses many distinctive biological properties. Their scales are fire-proof, heat resistant to over a thousand degrees centigrade, immune to bullets below a certain caliber and bullet resistant at and beyond said caliber, and are able to briefly breath fire capable of melting steel. While related to Oros genetically, Chimera do not inherently have unbreakable bones, though their durable skeletons are remarkably hard to break regardless. Only Chimera with an Oros father possesses this distinctly Oros trait. Furthermore, despite their far greater size compared to their Oros kin, Chimeran muscles are built differently, being made to be more flexible to give them the agility and grace in combat that makes them so capable in battle. As a trade off for this increased flexibility, Chimera are not as proportionately strong as Oros of a similar size, being only as strong as the Tall body-type among Oros kind.

Despite being related to the Oros, Chimera are able to use Mana based magic. They can, in fact, utilize magic like Spirits can, albeit to a more limited degree due to not being beings of magic. Before Mortalized Spirits arrived and began to live among the Oros, the Chimera were the first Mortal Race to utilize magical powers that were not Aether related, the exception being the Aether capable Aetherspites who are universally Magi but cannot use Mana based magics. Despite this ability to cast spells, most Chimera are only interested in studying magic in so far as they can safely use it as a possible tool in their arsenal. Dedicated Chimeran sorceresses are uncommon, though those that do exist are mystical powerhouses outmatched only by their Spirit counterparts. [A note is attached. It reads 'I could say I'm annoyed that I can't use magic, but the fact I'm immune to direct applications of magic is too good of a trade off for me to want to give up!']

Their ultimate, secret weapon, however, are their large, notable tails. At the end of these tails is a large, mouth like structure, one that is capable of producing a truly incalculable number and array of biological and chemical substances, as well as being able to ingest and safely analyze all known biological and chemical components, even though inherently toxic to biological organisms. This ability to inherently break down, reconstruct, and analyze virtually all things biological and chemical has made Chimera masters of biological and chemical sciences. A Chimera incapable of breaking down and accurately analyzing a biological substance by having their tails ingest it are unheard of.

These tails are thus their key weapon in most situations, allowing them to launch streams of corrosive and toxic acids, spew forth clouds of poison gasses, healing sprays to aid injured friends, or analyze a hostile it has taken a bite of for possible weaknesses. This, combined with their tough teeth and claws, toughness, and agility for their sizes make Chimera dangerous even when unarmed. When going into combat, they arm and armor themselves like their Oros kin, donning power armor tailored for their tall and flexible forms and armed from everything from heavy machine guns as though they were rifles, to massive War Spears inherent to their culture. [A note is attached. It reads 'I've seen a Chimera with those freaking huge War Spears of theirs, and it's like they freaking dance or something in combat. I've also heard they have dances involving the spears, but after the Displaced arrived I can't search the Spotter search engine without seeing a completely different kind of 'pole-dancing.' XD']

These tails are also vitally important for Chimeran reproduction. Chimera use their tails to ingest and analyze the genetics of creatures they hunt. Upon finding useful traits in something they've hunted down and slain, they incorporate those genes into a selected ovum which begins to develop into a Chimera with traits taken from the 'donor' whom their mother's hunted. This method is exclusively for producing daughters the traditional way, by hunting worthy beasts, slaying them, and then harvesting their blood to produce strong daughters. They abstain from using this method from reproducing with other sapients, viewing it as disrespectful and rude to perform such a method on races who are not, quote, 'mindless animals'. That said, if a Chimera does reproduce with a male of a fellow sapient species, they utilize their conventional reproductive organs in order to do so. Regardless of the exact method, Chimera are always, without fail, born with a twin. In traditional and dangerous life styles outside of the cities, most Chimera lose their twin in the wilds to the dangers of the world and often become more morose and jaded out of a form of survivors guilt. [A note is attached. It reads 'I ask one of my Chimera friends, Tulia, if getting hit in the tail is as bad as getting kicked in the crotch. She said no, but it still hurts a lot, more closer to getting punched in the boob.']

Expecting Chimeran Mothers often form communal groups with other expectant Chimera mothers called a convocation, in which they discuss their reasonings for their particular selection in donor, or mate in the event of having produced their children using conventional reproductive methods with another sapient, as well as discussions of the pros and cons of each one's individual selection therein. Those that group together who are of like mind, or who share the same species of genetic donor for their respective children, form smaller groups called coteries. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Or as we call them nowadays, fan clubs. ']

Newborn Chimera are similar to other newborns of the Civilized Races, Oros included, starting off with a more animalistic body-plan and mind-set before developing into their more conventional adult forms as they age. Young Chimera in particular lack their hoods they gain at puberty, and are at times described as, quote, 'noodles with limbs'. Their tails at this stage are large and flat, the mouths having yet to develop. Chimera remain in this 'noodly' form until they begin to go through puberty, at which point a series of growth spurts over the years bring them to their full adult height while their bodies mature and develop into the more distinctly feminine, hooded forms of their mothers, with their tails thickening and developing its mouth like structure, which finally opens up at the onset of their 18th year alive. [A note is attached, it reads 'Chimera have the power of noodle babies on their side, therefore they win. All other arguments are invalid.']

Young Chimera are not the analytical scientists their mothers are, instead being filled with a zest for life and adventure that sees them hunt deep into the wilds. Chimeras have incredibly strong bonds with their twin sibling, with the two individuals being virtually inseparable. It is very common for one sibling to die, causing the other to become morose and jaded as a side-effect. This often coincides with their increased focus on learning and expanding their knowledge of biology and chemistry, as well as the start of their desires to produce strong daughters that can better survive in the harsh wilderness. Many modern Chimera born in the safety of the Great Walled Cities rarely if ever see their beloved siblings die, with their love of adventure often being tempered by them finding work as couriers within the vast cities. Over time, this love of adventure wanes as they become more responsible, resulting in them beginning to delve into learning the sciences of their mothers albeit without nearly as much of the cynicism.

Modern Chimeran culture is not as varied as the different Oros Nations, instead being far more unified in nature due to their unified instincts. The average Chimera is fascinated with testing and learning all they can about the biological and chemical world around them, building up a catalog of information that allows them to build 'recipes' for use as weapons or healing salves as needed from their tails. The oldest Chimera in a clan will have a near unlimited capacity for creating a near infinite array of biological and chemical attacks to use from their tails. As a result, any Chimera more than a few years into adulthood is a living, breathing biological and chemical weapon's factory. Recognizing the potential danger they could be towards other races, Chimera living among other races such as in the mixed cultures of the Great Walled Cities voluntarily submit themselves to wearing restraint muzzle-harnesses over their tails' mouths, preventing them from using their ultimate weapon in any public place. Some Chimera, particularly those who posses friends and family who are not Chimera, take to wearing these restraints at all times of the day, even at home and when asleep. In the event of an emergency, particularly when their homes are under hostile attack from animal raids or beyond, Chimera have their specialized restraints legally removed for use in combat against the threat. [A note is attached. It reads, 'I've got a cousin who married a Chimera and now they're making bunches of nieces of mine! I've never once seen her without her tail restraint. Not once.']

While unified, however, they are not uniform: Each subspecies and individual tribe and clan of Chimera has their own unique microculture that makes each one as distinct as any Oros village. While joined by a common goal and racial unity, the Chimera of different tribes often butt heads over their distinct cultural differences. Some clans have been known to engage in competitive feuds over a particular sport or song, or even arguing over an ancient event their ancestors once engaged in. Furthermore, each tribe and clan posses their own distinct cultural apparel. Some utilize minimal tribal garb, their intimate regions already covered up by their own biology. Others don clothing styles as rich and diverse as the Oros' own, ranging from tailored dresses and suits to 'casual armor'.

In the modern day, the Chimera are diverged into 8 primary subspecies, known among the Chimera as 'Meta-Clans'. Each is distinguished by a specific coloration and certain biological assets that remain with all members of that subspecies, regardless of who their donor was. These include:

-Base: The 'base' form which all other Chimeran Clans descend from, the Base Chimera are distinguished by their blue and orange coloration and lack of 'designation' markings other than that attained by their Donor. Their culture is the dominant from which the others' variations spring from, being scientifically inclined to research the natural world and it's biological components. Most commonly seen from of Chimera, with a strong cultural preference for eating mushrooms and pork.

-Aqualung: An aquatic subspecies, the Aqualung is distinguished by their ultramarine coloration as well as the presence of retractable webbing on their fingers and does as well as the presence of fins. Capable of amphibious living and with lungs that can breath in water, they are most commonly seen in large bodies of water such as lakes, rivers or on the shoreline. Have a preference for shellfish.

-Frostfang: An icy blue and white subspecies, Frostfangs distinctly lack the typical firebreathing of their other Chimeran kin in favor of breathing freezing gasses. They are not as stoic or aloof as their other kin or their Icebreaker Oros counterparts, instead having an animated curiosity for new things due to living in a frozen wasteland. Preference for ice whale meat.

-Magmaburn: A dark red and blazing orange colored subspecies, the Magmaburns posses large 'veins' of mystical energy resembling active veins of molten lava. When not in use, they are warm but not burning to the touch, but when they cut loose and unleash their full energy, they turn into blazing infernos capable of reducing near-by tracts of land into ash and glass. Despite their blazing capabilities, they are as reserved by default as most other Chimera subspecies, causing them to often culturally butt heads with their neighbors, the Firebrand Oros Nation. Their love of anything spicy rivals the Firebrands, and many disputes between the two powers has been solved not through violence but through contests of eating and drinking the spiciest dishes both parties have produced.

-Sandspitter: Rocky brown and sandy undertones are the coloration of this subspecies, the Sandspitters call the Sand Ocean their home, being the nearest breed to the Skyrunner Oros Nation. Sandspitters have rocky hides and an inherent geomantic capability that allows them to flow through the sand in a way that rivals the sand swimming of the other creatures of the Sand Ocean. They have a cooperative relationship with the Skyrunners: While the Skyrunners keep the skies clear, the Sandspitters are the ones to huntdown threats swimming through the sandy sea. Their preferred meal is Sandshark.

-Voltcaller: A stunning blazing yellow and electric blue, Voltcallers stand out in the mountain ranges they call home, their backs and outer portions of their limbs covered in zig-zagging electric 'spikes', Voltcallers are living lightning rods, their bodies a conduit for electrical energy that lightning homes in on. They are immune to electrical damage and can store vast quantities of electricity in their form, particularly their spikes, making them living power-generators. This makes them indispensable with their Stonecutter neighbors, who to this day bring employment to Voltcallers as living lightning rods and batteries for their mountain embedded homes. They have a strong inclination towards Flicker-Tongue meat. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Back in college, I bunked with a Voltcaller named Halia. I still don't know how I was able to keep convincing her to be used as a living battery for my college science experiments.']

-Aetherspite: The most mysterious of the Chimera, colored a purplish hue and with dark purple spikes lining their hoods and tails, the Aetherspites fierce appearance belies a calm, analytical mind. Magi one and all, the Aetherspites have long lived in the territory of the Royalback Nation, and their differing governmental styles and ideologies has led to more than one war between the two in the past, though since the founding of the Median there has yet to be any new conflict between them. Their inherent Aetheric abilities and instinctive knack for using their powers makes them highly suited as teachers in the Magi Order, with the Aetherspites in the modern day being found in every Nation and City as part of their compact with the Median to aid in the location, protection, and training of other Magi. They are the least common subspecies, and the most inclined towards mysticism. No known preferences for food.

-Toxine: Black and glowing neon green, the Toxine Chimera are some of the wildest, most untamed of their entire species. They thrive in adventure and combat, having a desire for action and adventure that drives them to fight the most dangerous creatures they can. They are also able to produce toxins of a far higher lethality than their normal kin, with even their fire breath imbued with a toxic effect. They live alongside the Bughunter Oros Nation, and have been both friend and foe over their long, long histories together. In the current day, most Toxine Chimera find themselves employed as Knights within the Median, using their lust for combat and their impeccable toxicity for the good of all. Prefer to eat poisonous fruit and tree frogs.

The Chimera are an extremely varied and extremely close ally of the Oros people, and have been for millennia at this point. With them and their fellow Chimeran racial sisters as our allies, it's commonly said that the Oros people come both as dogs and as serpents. It is not uncommon for many modern day cities, Great Walled or otherwise, to see a Chimera as a member of the inner cabinet, equally trusted by both their own species and others to make the right calls for the good of all. At the risk of sounding a bit sentimental, it's safe to say we're all one people now. [A note is attached. It reads, 'It makes me kinda sad that the Displaced sees animosity in places between their furred and scaled members. It doesn't make sense to me, especially since they're technically all one species! I love my Displaced friends but man, are they weird. They have to be for a weirdo like me to call them weird.']

(Sorry for the delay folks, new proper update today and it's a long one! Apologies for no special commissions this time around, but perhaps one day we'll see the Chimera visualized. Just not today.)

 

[TripleMRed]

A Guide to Common Nullian Fruits, and Some Other Edible Plants. [3152 Edition]

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Greetings and welcome to all of the Median's newly Displaced populace. We understand thoroughly that, due to circumstances outside of your control, you have wound up on our world with no way back to your points of origin. We deeply apologize for any and all pain, suffering and/or dismemberment the survivors of the initial Displacement may have suffered due to our world's incredibly hostile nature, and we hope that your new homes in the wonderful City of Dreamhold/Byr will be a safe and comfortably accommodating place for you all to live in in peace.

Due to the 'changes' that were made to your bodies in order to make you compatible with living on Null and not instantly be dissolved into a bubbling boiling puddle of rotting biomass on contact with the contaminants in the air, we have prepared a short but helpful list of various native Nullian fruits, as well as some other edible plants, that will be continuously updated as time goes on as we help you integrate and get as close to comfortable with your new lives here as possible.

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Apa: The Apa is one of the most common and widespread fruits on the Arisa continent of Null, coming in a massive variety. From Verdent Bitters to Brown Sugar Apas, to the thorny and massive Pineapa to the bitter 'Tomato' like Bitter Apa, its varied flavors and common nature means you will never want for any kind of Apa in today's modern age. While your biologies have been made fully compatible with Nullian foods, it must be noted that the Apa has some differences from the equivalent known to most Displaced, the Apple.

The juices of an Apa are highly caustic which, while a nonissue for the biologies of Civilized Races, can be a problem when trying to prepare them due to their rating on the Nullian Caustic Scale. Most modern kitchen equipment has been specially acid proofed to allow the ease of handling the corrosive juices, but one must be careful as it's not unknown for spills to occur, which can lead to damage to rugs or the floor. Another major difference, in place of many smaller seeds, the core of the Apa is a massive pit like seed roughly 20mm's in width. Contained within is a notable amount of cyanide, which can be useful to add an almondy taste to items if one lacks the nut for use in cooking. Safety warning, do not eat more than 10 Apa-Seeds in one sitting, lest you gain an upset stomach.

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Pair: Comparable to the 'Pear' fruit known to your kind, the Pairs of Null posses a similar appearance in that they have a fat bottom half that tapers to a point at the top. They get their name due to the fact that they always come in twin pairs, attached at the stem. Similar to the Apa, they posses corrosive juices and a pit like seed, though these are less potent than the Apa varieties.

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Banki: A crescent moon shaped food, Bankis are Null's equivalent to your 'Bananas', though with several key differences. Namely, a Banki's peel is green in coloration, and one knows it is ripe when the peel develops several splotchy black spots. Furthermore, the seed of the Banki is actually located on the 'Handle' used to peel it open, and in the wilds it secrets a subtle pheromone that drives small fauna to dig a hole to lay the seed in to have it grow in a new, safe place. Aside from this, the Banki is overall a pretty harmless fruit, lacking any real notable deadly features such as caustic juices or other phenomena. Enjoy to your heart's content, or use in recipes as you see fit.

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Plumpkin: Similar in appearance to the Pumpkins of your world, and with a meat of similar consistency to 'sweet potatoes', the Plumpkin is a hearty and nutrient rich sweet tasting delight that is available year round in a wide variety of different kinds of a flavors. Despite this, however, a word of caution is necessary: The Plumpkin is known infamously as the 'Genocide Gourd', as when placed in fields with other forms of fruit or vegetables, they will spread their root systems to target and strangle to death these other plants before using their rotting forms as fertilizer for new Plumpkins to form from their strangling roots. As such, when handling Plumpkin seeds, it is absolutely vital not to allow any be planted near non-Plumpkins. If you or someone you know has a personal garden, do NOT forget to remind them of this fact lest they lost their entire crop and accidentally cause a small Plumpkin outbreak.

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Ash-Berry: A most peculiar plant that is difficult to properly compare with Displaced native flora, the Ash-Berry resembles a common cherry with a brighter, fuller and shinier color, and spawned in massive quantiies around a singular large trees out in the Ash Fields of the Southern Heat Plains. Nourished by the volcanic ash enriched soil, these trees periodically release spore like seeds from their tops, which float down and grow into new Ash Trees, assuming they are not eaten in their sapling stage by tree hungry creatures. The fruits of these trees do not contain seeds, and instead act as enticement or payment for animals to protect the trees from harm by flora consuming creatures. The Ash-Berry itself is the size of a cherry, but possesses a bitter taste. They find excellent use in bitter recipes, candies, and as flavoring for medicines.

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Shellfruit: A fruit commonly found on islands owned and visited by the Wavechasers Nation of Oros, Shellfruit are similar to 'Kiwis'. They grow low to the ground and are covered in a soft-fuzz shell casing, contained within a slightly glowing flesh known for its delightful flavor. A word of warning, however, as it has been found that Shellfruit are unusually radioactive for fruit and consuming large quantities can lead to stomach pains. If you feel a slight burning sensation as you ingest the fruit, do not panic. This is your bodies reaction to radioactive material kicking in as the flesh is consumed. It is not recommended to eat anymore than 10 Shellfruits in one sitting lest one get sick and have to spend a day recovering from the radiation dosage.

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Nullian Fig: It is a fig. Same as in your world, though notably larger and encased in a tough armored shell, making them a favored fruit for Shinooks. Excellent for making popular fig based candies and cookies.

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Orange: Named after it's orange coloration, it should not be confused with the 'Orange' from your world. The Nullian Orange is the size of a 'Grapefruit', and flavored with enough citrus flavor to make ones eyes water if not partially drained of its juices first. The outer shell can be 'cracked' and split open, allowing direct access to the four-sectioned meat within.

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Spudder: Also known as the Tato, the Spud, or the Earth Apa, Spudders are starchy tubers that are like the tougher alien cousin of your 'potatoes'. Needing to be boiled in order to be edible, Spudders are an excellent source of nutrient and extremely flexible for their wide, wide range of recipes and ways to prepare them. It is not recommended to eat any that have glowing postules on them, as those have been infected by a tuber disease that leads to sickness to those who ingest the contaminated material.

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Karaton: Also known as the Spike Root, the pale purple Karaton is akin to your 'Carrots', and are useful in a wide variety of recipes. Known for their health benefits including aiding in improving eyesight, Karatons are similar to other tubers in that they must be boiled to soften them for consumption, lest one tries to gnaw through roots as tough as rocks. As a bonus, their pointed, spike like shapes makes these tubers an excellent, if odd, make shift stabbing weapon in emergencies.

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Rice: From Ice Rice in the Northern Frozen Wastes, to the Spice Rice of the Southern Heat Plains, rice is a form of plant that is not too dissimilar from those of your world. Coming in a vast, vast, vast variety, it is difficult to get sick of this staple food due to the nearly limitless dining combinations one can have alongside these countless plant seeds. Warning, do not attempt to eat Nullian rice without properly cooking them first, as in their natural state they are as tough as rock and with sharp ends capable of causing lacerations in the esophagus and stomach.

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Wheat and Oats: Like rice, wheat and oats is another staple food shared between our world. With just as vast and exhaustive a variety as their rice counterparts, Nullian wheat and Oats can be used to bake a wide, wide variety of breads, pastries, and other foods. They are also notable for being edible without needing proper preparation, thus allowing one to subsist off them directly from the stalk, making for a quick if unimaginative meal.

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Paynut: A strange nut without a direct counterpart on Earth ,though the flavor is said to be akin to 'Peanut Butter'. Paynuts are a form of plant that have developed a form of symbiosis with other creatures: Those that bring it 'payment' in the form of a dead small animal will, in turn, be allowed to feed upon some of the large acorn like seeds produced at the end of its low hanging branches. Warning, however, for if one tries to take a Paynut seed without paying the toll first, the plant will inject an obscene amount of cyanide into the seed that completely ruins the vaunted and sought after flavor.

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Choco Fruit: Unlike the 'cocoa' seeds of the world of the Displaced, the chocolate on Null hails from the dark skinned and vaguely heart shaped fruits of the Choco tree. The flesh is bitter, but when the ground or mashed fruit flesh mixed with sugar and sweetened with milk, chocolate is made to be consumed and enjoyed.

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Vanilla Rose: Pink-tinted white rose flowers, Vanilla is extracted from the sap of these thorny roses before being processed into its final, safe to eat form as vanilla. Attempting to eat the sap before processing is unadvised, as it is toxic and ingesting too much can result in coma or even death, depending on quantity.

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Heart Rose: Akin in flavor to 'Strawberries', the Heart Rose's syrup is extracted and refined in a process akin to the Vanilla Rose. Attempting to eat the unrefined sap is highly unadvisible, as it has been known to cause heart attacks in one or both of the ingestor's hearts in its raw form.

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Sweet Hickory: Known to you as a 'Pecan', Sweet Hickory seeds is extremely well loved by Nullians, including Oros, and they are known to become highly alert when the prospect of being able to eat Sweet Hickory is brought up. Nothing makes an Oros your friend as quick as them baking (or buying from a store, they're not picky) Sweet Hickory Pie to share or as a gift.

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These were just a quick list of some foods on Null, some more familiar than others, that we hope will help make your lives here on our world more comfortable. The full list of edible foods can be found online, though the digital copy of this quick list will be updated in the future with more common edibles for you to learn of and try for yourself!

[....This digital edition of the guide list is many, many, many updates behind the current update....]

 

[TripleMRed]

Empusa.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of serpentine beings, similar to though distinct from the Chimera. Indeed, they resemble a breed of shorter, stouter Chimera, with the biggest differences being their large fore limbs covered in crystalline material that seems to grow at their will. Sketches show them leaping around with extremely powerful jumps, tossing crystalline shards from their fingers, or slamming their fists into the ground to generate a spike of material a distance away. The other two largest differences appear in the form of their attitudes, which seem distinctly less stoic and more aggressive than their Chimeran counterparts, as well as the fact that, unlike the other Mortal Races of Null, they are distinct in that they appear to be hermaphroditic.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'The smaller, angrier cousins of the Chimera. With peens. Overall, 8/10, too much anger.']

Scientific Name Translation: Crystal-Fist Serpent.

Average Size: 6'2 Feet/1.89 Meters tall.

Average Weight: 400 pounds/181.45 kgs.

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, Mono-Gendered species.

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

Of the many, various species of Null, few have such similarity and yet such keen differences from their related races than the Empusa. One of the 3 Chimeric races and an offshoot of the Chimera, Empusa are direct relatives to their larger cousins, with their distinct differences being their smaller size, stouter frames, enlarged forelimbs and the ability to control and manipulate the crystalline growths covering their limbs. Useful for both defense and attack, this crystalline matter grows at the will of the Empusa, making them always useful no matter the situation.

The other, largest biological difference between Empusa and Chimera, and indeed between them and all other native Mortal Races of Null, is that they hold the distinction of being the only hermaphroditic native Mortal Race. It is believed that at some point in the distant past, an event similar to that which created the original Chimera occurred that led to the divide between Chimera and the Empusa, with one particular change being the introduction of functioning, internally stored male reproductive organs alongside their already existing female ones. Genetic research, however, indicates that this was likely less the result of some sort of mystical event, and more a concerted and focused effort by the Empusa in ancient times to turn themselves hermaphroditic using the same genetic altering capabilities they share with the Chimera. As a sidenote, while they are true hermaphrodites, Empusa almost always tend to refer to one another in female terms and pronouns, with many displaying annoyance or confusion when someone attempts to label them in they/them pronouns. [A note is attached. 'I've always wondered what life is like for the other side of the biological sexes, but I'm also still trying to wrap my head around how they were able to fuse the two sexes into one to make themselves as they are now.']

This aside, they share many biological similarities to their larger cousins: Fireproof scales, mawed tails, bullet resistant, and more. However, one notable difference is that their smaller sizes overall makes them less durable in the long run compared to their larger cousins. As a result, it is not uncommon for Empusa to develop an aggressive state of being in order to directly counteract their relative vulnerability. The stereotypical Empusa is short-tempered, easily annoyed, and always on the verge of tearing something's head off. While it is true that their aggressive tendencies are markedly more notable than most other Mortal Races, it is nowhere near as uncontrolled as the stereotype would suggest. Some have suggested that this higher aggression is linked to their dual-sexed nature, though genetic research has long since confirmed that theirs is true hermaphroditism, and highly stable with little to no actual hormonal issues. The aggression is directly linked to a survival mechanism for the wilds due to their smaller sizes.

While armed with claws, fangs, chemical spewing tails and magic, the Empusa's claim to fame revolve around their crystalline powers. Covering their forelimbs, these crystals grow at astonishing rates in mere seconds at the Empusa's willpower. Able to be lobbed in volley's for ranged combat, used in melee as unarmed amplifying tools, or even in makeshift repairs and construction, these gems posses a lattice structure that makes them nearly as hard as natural diamond and, thanks to the ability of the Empusa to manipulate their growth as they see fit, these gems can be shaped to minimize weak points or fracture sites. Sonic attacks at ultra high frequencies can match and thus destroy these crystals same as many others found in nature, though the Empusa's control over them is such that they can alter the crystalline frequencies of their gems, allowing them to change the requirements for their shattering by weaponized sound. [A note is attached. It shows a sketch of a crystal shard tied into a necklace. 'Some people say that having an Empusa crystal shard on your person is good luck. An Empusa friend of mine, Dara, just says that it's a good way to make money of people who'll believe anything.']

As a society, Empusa live and work alongside their sister races, the Chimera and the Cerberi, often acting in a support role by creating barriers or aiding in construction. Some say this contributes to their kinds signature sour attitude, though this is highly unlikely as Empusa are known to flock towards safety more readily than even other Mortal Races. In the modern day of the Great Walled Cities, Empusa have all but abandoned their old ways of living to take up homes in the GWC's. Outside of their natural talents, Empusa are just as capable as anyone else of taking on any role in society they are educated and trained for. From police forces to attorneys to construction workers, Empusa can be found in any part of society the same as any other race. Interestingly, it has been found that Empusa born and raised in the safety of the GWC's lack their kinds signature tempers, being as calm and collected, though just as capable of individual personality, as Oros or their own sister races.

Despite this, similar to the Chimera and Cerberi, for safety reasons, it is common for Empusa living among other races to willingly put on tail-muzzles to prevent any accidental chemical spills or similar incidents. Additionally, those out in public tend to wear specialized gauntlets and boots to prevent the use of their at times highly destructive crystalline powers. As with their more recognizable larger cousins, in the event of an attack, these restrictions are removed in order for them to properly defend themselves in combat.

Omnivorous as with the other Mortal Races, Empusa distinctly have an interest in eating gemstones, often describing them in flavors that no other species can taste save the Tara Rabbits. Empusa who partake in eating gems often are limited in the modern day by what they can actually purchase from the store, though some Empusa run restaurant chains have taken to producing and selling artificial gemstones for commercial consumption. Eating elemental gemstones have been known to empower the Empusa with elemental power in their crystals, though this is usually only a temporary effect. [A note is attached. 'They say Empusa invented rock-candy my mixing a softer version of their crystals with sugar. Not sure if this is true or not, but I could believe it.']

In terms of reproduction, Empusa are distinct among their sister races in that, rather than taking in genetic information with their tails to produce their offspring, Empusa use the genetics acquired to provide enhancements to their young, which they produce via conventional reproductive activity. Two Empusa who are mated with one another will usually impregnate each other in the same encounter, before both producing a set of twins. This higher rate of reproduction is compounded by the fact that Empusa only need 6 months in the womb to gestate when not factoring in an Oros parentage. In the old days before the Great Walled Cities, this higher reproduction rate was necessary due to their relative lack of size, power, and durability, making them easier to be slain in the wild by wild animals. In the modern day, Empusa make up about 40 percent of all of the Chimeran Races that are alive, though the lack of environmental pressures and threats against them have diminished their need to replenish their numbers so often.

Empusa are divided into the same 8 Meta-Clans as their Chimera cousins, though they are less extreme in their appearances. For example, a Voltcaller Empusa has smaller volt-spikes than the Chimera version. The big change for Empusa is the elemental effects they are naturally able to use, which very depending on their Meta-Clan. Voltcaller Empusa can charge their crystals with electrical power, while Magmaburns can infuse theirs with burning flame and explosive power. This gives the Empusa a distinct advantage when it comes to elemental combat as this combined with the flexibility of their crystals allow them to take combat advantages that their more conventional Chimera cousins cannot hope to replicate. [A note is attached. 'Dara always seems a little smug when she's talking about this, which I guess is fair. If I could shoot explosive ice crystals from my hands, I'd be smug about it too. XD']

As varied and more numerous than their Chimera cousins, Empusa are a common sight in many GWC's, both in Chimeran specific communities and in general living spaces. Despite their fearsome reputation for being ill-tempered, in truth they are just as personable, if more irritable, as any other species, with even the aggression being nonexistent for those born in the safety of the GWC's. Fascinating to behold for their many biological wonders, Empusa are a window to the wider, stranger world we live on.

 

[TripleMRed]

Cerberus.

[Sketches depict a bipedal, distinctly feminine race of large, well muscled and three headed canines. They appear to be longer snouted relatives of the Oros, having large hulking tails akin to the mouthed ones of the Chimera and Empusa. Their bodies are well muscled, clearly built for perfomance and strength rather than speed or aesthetics, with their forearms being large with large, sharp clawed hands, their feet digitigrade and built to carry their bulk around. some sketches indicate they are able to go down on all fours in a primal gait for massively increased speed or long distance running. Their three heads are next to one another, side by side, and they each display very clearly distinct personalities, indicating they are each with their own personality and intellect. Other sketches depict the Nullian Cerberus guarding locations in full armor, while others show them smithig materials from molten cauldrons using their bare hands, fire coming from their mouths and tails to heat up a block of metal to shape it into new forms, and even engaging in sportly behavior alongside Chimera and Oros.]

[A note is attached. It reads, 'I have a Cerberus auntie who married into the family. Love you Auntie Dottie/Rottie/Bottie!']

Scientific Name Translation: Three Sister Heads.

Average Size: 8'2/2.5 Meters on average.

Average Weight: 1500 pounds/680kg's on average..

Notable Sexual Dimorphism: N/A, mono-gendered species..

Habitat Range: All Biomes in the Arisa Continent.

Summary:​

The world of Null is no stranger to biological or evolutionary oddities, with one being hard pressed not to find some creature that defies even the tentative norms of our homeworld in some fashion. As such, the last of the 'Three Sisters' family line, that being the family line of the Chimera, is one such oddity that even the most experienced and seasoned of evolutionary biologists on Null can only shrug at the truth and press on without lingering for fear of their own sanity falling apart. This species is of course the Cerberi.

The Cerberus is, like the rest of the Chimeric line, a mono-gendered species, consisting of all females and whom are biologically linked to the Oros. Unlike the Chimera and Empusa, who both split off from the same family line as the Oros millions of years ago, the Cerberi is the unexpected and near inexplicable result of the two family lines briefly rejoining to produce the Cerberi. While the specifics are still murky, what is known is that millions of years ago when both the Chimera and the Oros were beginning their rise to bipedal sapience, the two family lines rejoined, likely through the interbreeding of the female Chimera and male Orowolves, which would result in the first ancestors of the modern day Cerberi to arise. [A note is attached. It depicts at cartoon wolf standing on his hind legs and leaning against a counter top while looking at a primordial cartoon Chimera. A speech bubble over the wolf reads 'Hey baby, come here often?']

The most notable feature of these large canine women is their three heads. Despite what some may believe, these trio of heads are not, in fact, the exact same individual displaying different aspects of themselves. Rather, the heads are each their own being, thus making each Cerberi a set of triplets sharing a single massive body. Careful analysis reveals an extraordinary reason behind this biological facet of themselves: All of the races of Null posses a number of redundant nervous systems flowing through their body. In the Cerberi, however, these nervous systems instead of being part of a single being have splintered into three distinct, but connected, individuals sharing the same body. As a result of this, a single Cerberus technically has four given names: The name of each sister-head, as well as the 'body name' they all share to refer to them as a whole. [A note is attached. It reads 'Auntie Mel is her Body Name, but I always make sure to call all of them by their names.']

One of the most incredible aspects of this splintered multi-person nervous system is the fact that there is no conflict between the sister heads for control. A healthy Cerberus will always have the central, dominant head in control of the body with their sisters acting in support across a wide range of scenarios, including but limited to taking over in the event of damage to the central head. This is such that even if a head is completely destroyed or removed, the sister of that head is not actually dead but 'buried' into the rest of the nervous system, still communing with her sisters until her head is either reattached or regrown over the course of a handful of days through regeneration. As such, it is deceptively difficult to kill a Cerberus, with some records indicating those who had all three heads severed would survive to regrow their heads if brought to safety and not left to be slain by wildlife.

In terms of their other, more apparent physical attributes, the Cerberi are massive, standing at 8'2 when standing up straight and a consistent 3/4ths of a ton outside of armor, most of this being muscle as well as hyper dense layers of blubbery fat beneath the skin akin to the Oros and Chimera. They are extremely well muscled and have a strength that makes them easily the strongest of all the Mortal races on Null. They are even stronger than Mortalized Erui tiger spirits, capable of lifting and throwing in excess of 50 tons. Despite being relatively slow and unagile compared to the Chimera and Oros, they are still fast enough to react to incoming missile fire, allowing them to slap aside arrows and missile fire alike, feats that when combined with their armor and natural durability allows them to come out completely unscathed when dealing with the latter. [A note is attached. It reads 'Even without the armor, these ladies are hella tough. Anyone who thinks one missile is enough to take out an unarmored one is in for a very, very, very nasty lesson in violence.']

Where the Chimera and Empusa could spray biological and chemical sprays from their tail-mouths, the Cerberi are able to breath toxic flames from theirs, a natural flamethrower that can reach in excess of 500 meters at maximum pressure and firing a burning substance that incinerates the target with flames in excess of 2000 degrees centigrade. Similar to the Chimera and Empusa, Cerberi are fireproof inspite of their furred bodies. Their flesh is inantely fireprood like their sister species, though the fur is kept this way through the natural production of an oddly wax like coating that gives them a distinctive sheen and oddly chalky texture when felt. Without this natural waxy coating, their fur would catch fire and burn off from the first instance of them breathing fire from any of their mouths, leaving them alive and healthy but completely hairless.

Despite their physicality and capacity for great destruction, Cerberi are not an inherently violent species. The average Cerberus is, in fact, a calm, happy go-lucky individual who would prefer to make friends than cause bodily harm, though ironically they consider a melee struggle without weapons to be friendly play rather than actual combat. This caused problems in ancient times, before the unity of the modern Mortal races, as historically young adult Cerberi would encounter Oros and attempt to engage in play behavior to assert friendly relations, with their concept of play resulting in the Oros attacking with intent to cause injury. It was these encounters with the early Cerberi, however, that cracked the old preconceptions of non-Spirit, non-Oros beings, however, as their usage of articles of clothing to protect their intimate portions destroyed the idea of them merely being animals.

Historically, Cerberi have used their great strength and innate ability to resist extreme temperatures to forge and smelt, resulting in them being the origins of armor and weapons among the Chimeric races. This combined with their capacity for destruction meant that many early Chimera Cavern Cities were guarded by Cerberi guards. In the modern day, Cerberi work with the Erui in the production of high quality, hard to produce artisan armors and weaponry. It is also most common to see Ceberus soldiers armed with a hulking shield in their off hand and a powerful cannon system in their other in addition to their Powered Armor and it's various sister-head controlled subsystems and weapons. [A note is attached. It reads 'I got my start in engineering thanks to my Aunties teaching me about tech stuff while she was teaching my cousins too. I have her to thank for where I am now with my skills!']

One curious thing about their biology is their method of reproduction. While the Chimera can sample genetics with their tail mouths to produce daughters, and Empusa are hermaphrodites, Cerberi without a mate can produce offspring through a process of parthenogenesis that partially recombines their DNA, thus resulting in their daughters not being exact copies or clones of the mother. While not perfect, this allows for enough genetic variability in their species even without factoring in those who had actual fathers that no one disease or biological outbreak is a severe threat to their species as a whole. However, it is not uncommon for two Cerberi to become mated with one another, and mutually bite one another's tail mouths in a 'kiss' to exchange biological data, resulting in the formation of a new Cerberus with traits from both mothers.

Regardless of how the infant is formed, it takes approximately 11 months for the mother to produce a single pup. Upon being born, due to sharing the same number of breasts as all other Civilized Races on Null, the pup's three sister-heads compete for spots to suckle, with the head farthest from the nipples having a distinct disadvantage. As a result, the central lead head always is fed while either of her sister heads could or could not be fed, depending entirely on how they are held. It is believed that the sister that is not fed would go on to become the more assertive or aggressive of the sisters, though studies remain inconclusive on this. [A note is attached. It reads 'I don't know the answer either, but if I was deprived of the sweet bosom nectar of life as a baby, I'd be pretty pissed oof too.']

Similar to the Oros, Cerberi have differing phenotypical subspecies that results in their specific colorations and fur patterns. Having 7 varieties like their Oros forefathers, all possess the same abilities and attributes. For example, Stonecutter Cerberi are highly resistant to electrical or lightning strikes, while Wavechaser Cerberi have a vastly increased lung capacity and swimming ability. The Firebrand Cerberi take their existing immunity to fire as Cerberi and amplify it, making them highly resistant to thermal damage even in excess of what the Chimeric line already possess, with them being resilient to low level plasma blasts that would be enough to melt armor or immolate an Oros.

The Cerberi are an admittedly odd, but important member species of Null's Civilized Races. It is thanks to them in the early years of civilization that advanced forging and smelting techniques were possible, and thus modern day technology is owed in part by their contributions to the fields of metallurgy and engineering. [A note is attached. It reads, 'Cerberi are awesome. I know from experience, I've got loads of cousins that are them now! Love you Auntie Dottie/Rottie/Bottie!']

 

[TripleMRed]

[A vintage, old timey poster can be seen, depicting what seems to be a semi-anthropomorphic rabbit of androgynous shape made of ink doing what appears to be a dance with a top hat and cane which appear to also be made of ink. Words follow, reading 'See the amazing wonder of the moving picture, starring the one, the only, Blotty Bunny! Watch the latest mover with only 5 Bits admission, 2 Bits for children!']

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[A newer, though still vintage physical poster, can be seen, depicting what seems to be a pair of desperadoes facing each other in the wild outlands of a dry desert at dusk. The words on the poster read 'After over 30 films, the Gungrave Chronicles finally comes to an end. Catch the Last Shot, now in theaters for all the civilized world to see.']

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[A digital advertisement for a graphic novel series is shown, depicting an almost robotic figure in a space suit like attire, dodging laser fire amidst the stars while firing back at an unseen enemy, the figure's large expressive mono-chromatic eyes on its LED visor winking at the audience while it seemed to be wagging the index finger on the hand without a weapon like they were imitating another gun firing. 'Space Cop Groove, Volume 1, now on sale for only 5 Dollups.']

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[A digital advertisement depicts a 12x16 inch tray with a pair of carry handles on the sides and a sophisticated looking tumbler lock looking device on the multicolored metallic sheet covering the tray. Words on the tray read 'Stonecutter Menu 14, Halwurst and Meatloaf with garlic mashed tubers, Veggie Pocket, and spiced apa pudding desert.' Words follow, reading 'Military H-Ration Surplus Sale. Stock up now with all of your favorite H-Ration meals at discount prices and Nullian Kitchen approved seal of quality!']

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[A recruitment still ad is seen, showing an armored, poncho adorned member of the Hunter's Guild motioning over an array of cooked meat cuts and ornately crafted plant based cuisines. 'The Hunter Culinary Organization, for the taste of old fashioned home style hunting cuisine at affordable prices. All meals certified fresh, all parts of flora and fauna used, and all cooked by professional culinary staff with no substitutes save what is explicitly requested by the patron. 20% gratuity for all field Hunters who participated in ingredient hunt added to all orders, requires a minimum of one hour or longer to acquire ingredients for meals and additional hours based on meal prep time for completion of dish. First come, first serve policy in place, no refunds unless order is confirmed to have come out wrong or one hour delivery promise is not met. The HCO: Putting quality first in every meal™.']