Post by Vi on Feb 28, 2008 14:49:23 GMT -5
Strength: 10 (10 EP spent). They're insects that burrow around in caves. Despite their many skills when it comes to burrowing, they still need something resembling strength, right?
Toughness: 15 (20 EP spent). Again I point out they're insects. Insects are annoyingly resilient, and it's necessary, considering the many hazards of living in a potentially lethal place like caves.
Intelligence: 10 (Originally 5) (10 EP spent) They follow a hive-mind persona, they have evolved a bit over the past year, beginning to find way to explain more advanced orders and such.
EDIT: added 5 points
Language: 12 (14 EP spent) They communicate through shrill ultrasonic squeaks, capable of explaining some basic speech patterns. That's not to say they're going to be having any philosophical debates, mind you.
Agility: 20 (30 EP spent). Although they have a bit of resilience, the ability to skitter around and out of the way of falling rocks, crawling along the ceiling and so on is this race's preferred choice, rather than taking a rock to the face.
Grasping Appendages: 10 (10 EP spent). Their shovel-like pincer claws allow them to pick up some items with difficulty. They have six legs apart from their pincers, said legs not having any appendages on them apart from their inherent pointiness.
Over the past few years, they have grown a pair of small, more articulate pincers near their mouths with which to pick up a eat their food. Small, slow, and utterly useless for anything other than their give purpose, they can lift maybe 10 pounds if they were to put in some serious effort.
Powers:
Electric Charge: 10. A field of energy can be exerted by the __ in wave form, resonating from its front claws and body. Mostly used to resonate short distances through the cave walls to search for minerals and potentially hazardous faults, but can be used in an offensive fashion to shirk off predators by focusing the waves into one focused "bomb", but it only has the strength of a nasty static shock.
EDIT: Their electric abilities still on the rise, the caves are beginning to crackle with the power given by the little creatures. Even the workers capable of unloading some powerful voltage if taxed, and if two Royal Guards were to team up, they could almost undoubtedly be able to unleash a lethal dose of energy, unless the monster in question is positively enormous or resistant to electricity.
Acid Spray: 10. A spray made with the specific intention to soften/melting rocks for their burrowing habits. Despite their claws which are meant for burrowing, they aren't particularly strong, and as such, needs a second thing to remedy this. However, they are also capable of excreting minute amounts of this through their feet, not only making for a potent weapon if one is crazy enough to get smashed in the face by a killer bug, but it allows them to use it as a sort of adhesive to skitter about on ceilings through the minute contact of the acid on the stone, sticking to the bubbly, melty mess of stone. Naturally, this type of movement isn't particularly silent, however, and is used pretty much only for important things, I.E. Digging tunnels upwards for whatever reason, or rushing to stop an invader at the cave entrance or some such. It is also used to climb steep slopes and so on, quite obviously. They don't have toes, after all.
Hard Exoskeleton: 10 (All points used hoorah!) Well, what do you want me to say? They've got their bones outside their freakin' body. That makes for good body armor against most blunt and sharp trauma. 'nuff said.
EDIT: They no longer have that opening in their joints, now sort of a "bubble" of armor over the joint.
Basic information: The Chimera Ants, much like many different insects with low intelligence, follow a caste system. That is to say, there are different classes, each with different uses in mind. At its most vague, there are three different classes.
The Queen, whom there is only one of. She is the one who gives birth to the Chimera Ants, and that's pretty much it. She's only marginally larger than her guards, having a second segment which is the egg-sac, which is about 2 to 3 feet in circular diameter, otherwise looking just like any other Chimera Ant. She simply lays her eggs, worker Ants coming to pick up the soon-to-be larval creatures, and squirreling them away in a secure location where they are nursed until ready for work.
The Royal Guards, whom there is approximately a dozen of, whom are the guardians of the Queen and important points, I.E. The Queen's food source, so on. Unlike all other classes, they are a fair bit larger, about 3 feet tall and 4 feet from tip to back, the only significant differences between them and the Worker Guards being their increased electrical manipulation skills and sharp, single-bladed claws rather than the usual shovel-grips. Their electrical skills range from instead of a nasty static shock to a fair bit more potent taser type of zap. However, this can only be used when they've got, (or the enemy) has a firm grip on them, otherwise it's more of just useless sparks flitting about its carapace. As a note, Royal Guards can sometimes be found away from the Queen when some heavy-duty radar-ing is needed.
The Workers, whom make up the rest of the population are much more diverse in nature. Or not, depending on how you look at it. They all have the same basic make-up, the only thing that makes them different is what they do. Some are guards, some are miners, some are "radars", (see above) so on.
The workers, those you will probably end up seeing, unless you plan on assassinating the queen and wiping out this pretty little race, are about the size of a small dog, with their basic biology being rather simple, as a six-legged, 1-segment enormous bug. The coloring of their exoskeletons is a grayish white, yellowing with age.
Their legs are relatively featureless, simple pointed legs with a small "hook" for when climbing, their front two legs being a pair of much larger pincer-like claws, which is where their stone-melting acid is exuded from, the claws used for their obvious purposes of digging and self-defense. Their body itself is not particularly fancy either, directly behind the front claws are a pair of heat-sensitive eyes and a small mouth with no teeth or anything of the sort, simply a long, flexible tongue with which to munch the minerals which it feeds on. From the mouth down however, its underside is completely unprotected, its exoskeleton significantly weaker there, only enough to stop itself from caving into itself. UP above the eyes is a thicker layer of exoskeleton, capable of taking significant blunt trauma such as small rock falling onto it without too much damage to itself.
As I've foolishly not gotten around to, these guys live underground. More specifically, in mineral-rich areas, such as mountains, since, well, they go "Mmm minerals tastes like chicken". Minerals=food. They can't differentiate in the rarity or nutritional worth of these items, however, simply munching on what they can find. (Mostly because it would be a mammoth undertaking to find a way to explain how Gold would be worth more nutritionally than, say, iron in a coherent manner that actually makes sense.)
Their exact location is the row of mountains on the south-western island. You can't miss it.
3 Turns have passed, so +30 EP
More will be added if needed.
Toughness: 15 (20 EP spent). Again I point out they're insects. Insects are annoyingly resilient, and it's necessary, considering the many hazards of living in a potentially lethal place like caves.
Intelligence: 10 (Originally 5) (10 EP spent) They follow a hive-mind persona, they have evolved a bit over the past year, beginning to find way to explain more advanced orders and such.
EDIT: added 5 points
Language: 12 (14 EP spent) They communicate through shrill ultrasonic squeaks, capable of explaining some basic speech patterns. That's not to say they're going to be having any philosophical debates, mind you.
Agility: 20 (30 EP spent). Although they have a bit of resilience, the ability to skitter around and out of the way of falling rocks, crawling along the ceiling and so on is this race's preferred choice, rather than taking a rock to the face.
Grasping Appendages: 10 (10 EP spent). Their shovel-like pincer claws allow them to pick up some items with difficulty. They have six legs apart from their pincers, said legs not having any appendages on them apart from their inherent pointiness.
Over the past few years, they have grown a pair of small, more articulate pincers near their mouths with which to pick up a eat their food. Small, slow, and utterly useless for anything other than their give purpose, they can lift maybe 10 pounds if they were to put in some serious effort.
Powers:
Electric Charge: 10. A field of energy can be exerted by the __ in wave form, resonating from its front claws and body. Mostly used to resonate short distances through the cave walls to search for minerals and potentially hazardous faults, but can be used in an offensive fashion to shirk off predators by focusing the waves into one focused "bomb", but it only has the strength of a nasty static shock.
EDIT: Their electric abilities still on the rise, the caves are beginning to crackle with the power given by the little creatures. Even the workers capable of unloading some powerful voltage if taxed, and if two Royal Guards were to team up, they could almost undoubtedly be able to unleash a lethal dose of energy, unless the monster in question is positively enormous or resistant to electricity.
Acid Spray: 10. A spray made with the specific intention to soften/melting rocks for their burrowing habits. Despite their claws which are meant for burrowing, they aren't particularly strong, and as such, needs a second thing to remedy this. However, they are also capable of excreting minute amounts of this through their feet, not only making for a potent weapon if one is crazy enough to get smashed in the face by a killer bug, but it allows them to use it as a sort of adhesive to skitter about on ceilings through the minute contact of the acid on the stone, sticking to the bubbly, melty mess of stone. Naturally, this type of movement isn't particularly silent, however, and is used pretty much only for important things, I.E. Digging tunnels upwards for whatever reason, or rushing to stop an invader at the cave entrance or some such. It is also used to climb steep slopes and so on, quite obviously. They don't have toes, after all.
Hard Exoskeleton: 10 (All points used hoorah!) Well, what do you want me to say? They've got their bones outside their freakin' body. That makes for good body armor against most blunt and sharp trauma. 'nuff said.
EDIT: They no longer have that opening in their joints, now sort of a "bubble" of armor over the joint.
Basic information: The Chimera Ants, much like many different insects with low intelligence, follow a caste system. That is to say, there are different classes, each with different uses in mind. At its most vague, there are three different classes.
The Queen, whom there is only one of. She is the one who gives birth to the Chimera Ants, and that's pretty much it. She's only marginally larger than her guards, having a second segment which is the egg-sac, which is about 2 to 3 feet in circular diameter, otherwise looking just like any other Chimera Ant. She simply lays her eggs, worker Ants coming to pick up the soon-to-be larval creatures, and squirreling them away in a secure location where they are nursed until ready for work.
The Royal Guards, whom there is approximately a dozen of, whom are the guardians of the Queen and important points, I.E. The Queen's food source, so on. Unlike all other classes, they are a fair bit larger, about 3 feet tall and 4 feet from tip to back, the only significant differences between them and the Worker Guards being their increased electrical manipulation skills and sharp, single-bladed claws rather than the usual shovel-grips. Their electrical skills range from instead of a nasty static shock to a fair bit more potent taser type of zap. However, this can only be used when they've got, (or the enemy) has a firm grip on them, otherwise it's more of just useless sparks flitting about its carapace. As a note, Royal Guards can sometimes be found away from the Queen when some heavy-duty radar-ing is needed.
The Workers, whom make up the rest of the population are much more diverse in nature. Or not, depending on how you look at it. They all have the same basic make-up, the only thing that makes them different is what they do. Some are guards, some are miners, some are "radars", (see above) so on.
The workers, those you will probably end up seeing, unless you plan on assassinating the queen and wiping out this pretty little race, are about the size of a small dog, with their basic biology being rather simple, as a six-legged, 1-segment enormous bug. The coloring of their exoskeletons is a grayish white, yellowing with age.
Their legs are relatively featureless, simple pointed legs with a small "hook" for when climbing, their front two legs being a pair of much larger pincer-like claws, which is where their stone-melting acid is exuded from, the claws used for their obvious purposes of digging and self-defense. Their body itself is not particularly fancy either, directly behind the front claws are a pair of heat-sensitive eyes and a small mouth with no teeth or anything of the sort, simply a long, flexible tongue with which to munch the minerals which it feeds on. From the mouth down however, its underside is completely unprotected, its exoskeleton significantly weaker there, only enough to stop itself from caving into itself. UP above the eyes is a thicker layer of exoskeleton, capable of taking significant blunt trauma such as small rock falling onto it without too much damage to itself.
As I've foolishly not gotten around to, these guys live underground. More specifically, in mineral-rich areas, such as mountains, since, well, they go "Mmm minerals tastes like chicken". Minerals=food. They can't differentiate in the rarity or nutritional worth of these items, however, simply munching on what they can find. (Mostly because it would be a mammoth undertaking to find a way to explain how Gold would be worth more nutritionally than, say, iron in a coherent manner that actually makes sense.)
Their exact location is the row of mountains on the south-western island. You can't miss it.
3 Turns have passed, so +30 EP
More will be added if needed.
