The Shryn (Orichalcum Universe)...
Johnny1a
TAXONOMY (~2100 A.D): Animalia Mollusca Cephalopoda Lapishivenatora
Cythos Shrynora shryn.
The entities most commonly called the Shryn are one several sapient
species on the planet Cytheria (Aphrodite IV), all of them Awakened
either by the great psychic shock-wave produced by the Downfall of
Atlantis, or at second-hand by one of the sapients initially so
Awakened. The Shryn, however, are different from most of the other
sapience of Cytheria in several important ways.
The Shryn are, biologically speaking, of the Cephalopoda, their
nearest extant Terran relatives would be the various squid and octopus
species, and physically they resemble their cousins in many ways.
There are some very significant differences, however. They are part
of a taxonomical Order of their own, the Lapishivenatora, the ‘rocky
hunters’, because unlike their squid and octopus cousins, these
creatures retain their ancestral shell, or it has reemerged over the
course of their evolutionary history (the matter remains in dispute
among biologists as of 2100). In this they are sometimes compared to
their relatives the nautiloids, but genetic analysis shows a much
closer kinship to the squids and octopuses.
The Order Lapishivenatora are known on multiple planets, though no
examples exist on Terra, and it is thought that this Order evolved
from specimens closely akin to the common ancestor of the modern
Cephalopoda. Most species of this Order are small (ten-twenty
centimeters) and short-lived. There are some exceptions, however,
including several Families closely akin to the Cythos, named for the
planet Cytheria on which all known species of this Family are to be
found. The Cythos range in size from very small (one-ten centimeters)
to very large (twenty-five meters in one extreme case).
The various genera of the Family Cythos have in common being long-
lived as Cephalopods go, exhibiting polycyclic breeding as well. They
also share a common trait in the extreme physical flexibility of their
bodies, sufficient in some species to be able to completely emerge
from and engulf their external shell, and then withdraw back within
the protection it offers.
The Genus Shrynora has only one species, Shrynora shryn, the only
known sapient Mollusc.
A typical Shryn begins life as a ‘larval’ stage from an ‘egg sac’
planted in shallow water, guarded by the mother until it hatches, at
which point she cease to take any interest. A typical egg sac will
hatch after about fifty Cytherian days, producing hundreds of larvae,
the larval form being tiny, and drifts on the currents until it grows
large enough to swim out into deeper water. It takes about a
Cytherian year (~1.9 Terran years) for a larval Shryn to reach the
point where it metamorphoses into the adult form, though it requires
another one to two Cytherian years to reach full growth, which can be
as large as four meters from ‘head’ to tentacle tip.
The vast majority of larval Shryn are consumed by predators before
reaching metamorphic age, and they are entirely unsapient until that
time. Upon metamorphoses into adult form and the awakening of their
sapience, Shryn return to the shallows that are their natural
environment, and make contact with other ‘adult’ Shryn. Most young
Shryn do not reach full growth, falling prey to natural predators
which still occasionally feed on sapient Shryn, or more commonly to a
larger Shryn, since Shryn are cannibalistic.
The society of the Shryn is quite alien to that familiar to that of
any known Homosentient. In fact, it is a debatable question whether
their social associations should even be called a ‘society’, or
whether their life-pattern is sufficiently alien to make that word
inappropriate. Shryn are cooperative under some circumstances, but at
the same time they are violent toward each other and, as noted, fully
prepared and willing to feed on their fellow Shryn. In fact, such
behavior is quite common among them.
The Shryn consider predation upon the smaller and/or younger members
of their own species to be a useful way to prevent the ‘weak’ from
reproducing, weakness including intellectual qualities. The ability
to avoid being a meal for a larger Shryn is seen as proof of fitness
to survive and breed by other Shryn, as is success as predation upon
other Shryn. Indeed, a common courting behavior by male Shryn is to
bring a female meat from a successfully hunted small Shryn, and males
sometimes engage in ‘mating duels’ that end with the loser being a
meal for the winner and the female over which they were dueling.
Shryn mate once a Cytherian year, and usually do so every year
throughout adult life. The smaller Shryn who have not yet reached
full growth can reproduce, but often chose not to do so out of the
extreme risk involved, being intelligent enough to realize that their
odds will improve with time. Some exceptionally intelligent younger
Shryn males manage to fertilize a female by trickery or circumstance,
which is seen as perfectly natural and acceptable behavior among the
Shryn.
Shryn mate quite casually, with no long-term pair bonds, and the males
have no interest in the eggs or other reproductive activity of the
females after mating. Mating itself is brief and straightforward, a
specialized tentacle on the male Shryn transfers spermatozoa to the
female through a dedicated opening in the shell of the female, usually
under circumstances permitting a quick departure. The reason for this
later being that the females are physically larger and more powerful
than the males, and it is not unheard of for a female to attack and
consume a male after mating is completed.
After mating, the egg sac takes several weeks to be ready for
deposition, at which point the female plants it in a sheltered
location on the sea floor in the shallows, attached by a sticky mucus
secretion. The female will guard the egg sac until it hatches, driven
by instinct, though she will abandon it upon hatching and take no
further interest in her offspring (other than instinctively avoiding
mating with or feeding upon them).
Gravid females will fight ferociously over the best ‘nest sites’, with
the duels often ending in death and consumption for the losing
female. Smaller, weaker, younger or older females past their prime
often refrain from such duels in recognition that they lack any chance
of success, and settle for lesser locations.
The Shryn live far longer than most Cephalopods, and indeed longer
than most of the Cythos, with unaided life spans as long as thirty
Cytherian years (~fifty-seven Terran years). Technology and psionics
can extend this, but in practice old age is a rare cause of death
among the Shryn, by far the most common cause of death among these
beings is violence. When age begins to weaken a Shryn, it is usually
only a matter of time before it is either eaten by its fellows or dies
in a violent interaction with some other breed of sapient.
MORE LATER.
Johnny1a
The above description sounds more like a subsapient ‘animal’ than a
sapient being, admittedly. This is not inappropriate in some ways,
the Shryn live life-cycles much more like their non-sapient relatives
than do most sapient species. The Shryn are, however, fully sapient
beings with powerful intellects. They simply think and act in a very
different way than any Homosentient species.
Most mature adult Shryn have intelligence comparable to that of a
typical Homosentient. Some individuals are far more intelligent than
average, though subaverage Shryn are rare, the later tend to be eaten
long before they reach full maturity. Though they are much more
instinct-driven than Homosentients, they can and do override their
instincts in some matters and some situations, to the point of being
able to build what amount to their equivalent of cities and a
functioning, albeit savage (by Homosentient standards), culture.
Physically, Shryn are remarkable as cephalopods go on many levels.
They are moderately amphibious, able to survive for many hours out of
the water, and physically strong enough to move about on land with
some efficacy. Their tentacles are strong enough to permit them to
lift themselves off the ground in the surface gravity of Cytheria by
wrapping around branches or other objects, and they have been known to
attack land animals by _dropping_ on them from above. They are also
strong enough that a Shryn can actually ‘walk’ on a stiffened tentacle
for short period, though they more usually move around on land by
dragging themselves or ‘swinging’ from one point to another.
Their epidermal layer is covered in a thin but tough membrane unlike
anything found in any of the other Cephalopoda, extremely flexible and
providing sufficient protection to make these creatures effective on
land. This later is transparent, and requires moisture to endure,
limiting the amount of time a Shryn can spend on land, _especially_ if
exposed to direct sunlight. [1]
The shell they retain, unlike their Terrestrial cousins, is a tough
thin layer of calcium-based material, almost entirely spherical with
an opening through which the tentacles and mouth of the creature can
be exposed to the outside. However, in a unique adaptation, this
creature can almost entirely emerge from its shell, and wrap its body
around the _outside_ of the shell, taking on an appearance not
entirely unlike that of a Terran octopus (save for the greater number
and variety of tentacles). If startled or attacked, however, this
creature can slip back into its shell with amazing speed, leaving only
the solid protective surface exposed.
Shryn can vary their surface coloration using chromatophores rather
like those of squids and octopuses. In their usual default mode, most
Shryn are black or dark gray, but they can vary their color in
reaction to their environment, usually this is done by automatic
reflex as camouflage. Shryn are capable of learning to control this
process by conscious volition, and so do so with great skill, using it
as both a tool and weapon and also as an art form among their own
kind. Females ready to mate also use this reaction to signal to
prospective mates that the time is at hand, though this also involves
water-borne chemical cues.
Shryn are basically aquatic creatures, they can function on land for
up to several hours, but eventually must return to the water or begin
to suffer serious problems, which would eventually lead to death.
They are, however, equally functional in both fresh and salt water and
over a wide range of temperature and pressure. As larvae they prefer
the open sea, as adults they are more comfortable in the shallows, but
this is merely a preference and they suffer no real difficulty in the
ocean, from the surface to depths of nearly a kilometer.
They are fully at home in rivers, and have even been known to swim all
the way up into remarkably small tributary streams from time to time
as well. While they are somewhat vulnerable to excessive cold, such
conditions are rarely encountered in their natural environment. [2]
Shryn are fully carnivorous, other than occasionally feeding on some
subsurface plants and fungi in small amounts for trace nutrients.
They have a highly efficient digestive system and a razor-sharp ‘beak’
in common with their cephalopod cousins. Shryn often display a taste
for the meat of land-dwelling animals, though this varies widely from
individual to individual.
Shryn are _much_ stronger than their Terran relatives, evolution has
produced a variation on the classic musculature that is both more
efficient and stronger than the ancestral form. Shryn have been known
to use their tentacles to engage in successful constriction attacks on
small mammals.
Shryn are also venomous, and their venom is very effective against
mammals. In an interesting adaptation, the tentacles of the Shryn
have tiny natural receptacles that can be used to store this venom,
and sharp edges made of chitin that can slice open the epidermis of a
victim to introduce the poison. They can also introduce the toxin by
biting as with their octopoid cousins. The venom is extremely potent,
acting to disrupt neurological signals and inducing paralysis and
death in most mammal species.
Shryn, perhaps oddly, lack the ‘ink sac’ of their Terran relatives,
but they do have the ‘siphon’ that enables them to travel through the
water as a natural ‘hydrojet’. Shryn are very vast in the water, able
to match the speed of a Shadowswimmer for a short time. They can
sustain a slower speed for hours on end with little difficulty, though
the sound produced by this can draw certain Cytherian predators and so
is used with care.
Shryn have twelve tentacles, eight of moderate length and four of more
extensive length. The longer four are the ones with the venom
receptacles, and are often used to ensnare prey at a distance. Unlike
their Terran cousins, Shryn _do_ regenerate damage or broken
tentacles. Further, specialized nerve structures in these tentacles
(both sorts) give the Shryn far greater perception and control of
their tentacles than is displayed by any Terran cephalopod.
Regarding the Shryn nervous system, it should come as no surprise that
it is very different than the nervous system of the typical Terran
cephalopod. Like their Terran cousins, their is a ‘ring’ of nervous
tissue which lies wrapped around the esophagus, but in a Shryn there
are additional such nerve-rings, and extensive ‘trunks’ extending out
from these rings, cross-connecting with each other and the originating
rings. As a result, it can be said that a Shryn has a ‘distributed
brain’ that spreads out across the entire body. This has both
advantages and drawbacks. On the positive side, it is difficult to
deliberately target the brain of a Shryn, which has no one specific
location in the body. On the negative side, the long signal pathways
_do_ slow down the Shryn thinking process notably compared to most
sapient beings.
Shryn compensate for this to some degree by highly refined reflex
arcs, with much of the decision making handled at a ‘lower level’ than
in Homosentients. This means that Shryn have fast reflexes, but also
that they react much more from instinct than reason when startled.
Shryn senses are fairly acute, especially their chemosensitivity in
the water, and their vision in the water is superior to that of an _H.
sapiens_, while slightly inferior in the air. Their hearing in the
air is poor but superb in the water, but they are gifted with ESP
sufficient to compensate for their limits and then some.
Like most Cytherian sapience, Shryn have psionic abilities. They are
not as purely powerful as the Tavori, but they do have significant
powers compared to most Homosentients. Their ESP is especially
powerful, though they use it mostly at an instinctive level, with only
a few mastering more complex skills. Their precise abilities, in
terms of power and skill, vary widely from individual to individual.
In terms of racial psychology...most Shryn have personalities that
might best be described as ‘savage and predatory’ by Homosentient
standards. The Shryn seem to display an almost instinctive hostility
toward the other sapient species of Cytheria (and other worlds as well
when they come into contact). Shryn have been observed to go to
considerable lengths, singly and as groups, to attack, torment, and
kill sapients of other species for apparent reason other than simple
hostility. Telepaths of other species, when they can make contact
with Shryn minds at all (always difficult) report a uniform and
emotionally charged hostility that appears to have no rational reason
for existing, but to dominate any interaction with other sapience.
This includes Cythorax, the fungal supermind that is Cytheria’s
defining peculiarity. Indeed, the Shryn appear to be more hostile
toward Cythorax and its Rygorth and Shadowswimmers than toward the
Tavori or Homosentients. Normally the vast power available to
Cythorax would make it straightforward for the supermind to deal with
them, but the Shryn are possessed of some unusual means of self-
protection.
MORE LATER.
[1] Direct sunlight is rare on cloudy, humid Cytheria, however, save
near the poles.
[2] On Earth unprotected Shryn would be confined to the tropic zone.
On Cytheria they can range over most latitudes freely.
Johnny1a
In GURPS terms, a 'typical' male Shryn has IQ 10, DX 16, ST 18, HT
15. Females have the same other than that they have ST 19. Stats can
vary upward considerably in individuals, but anything much lower is
rare because they tend to be eaten before they can reproduce.
ADVANTAGES:
---------------------
Alertness [1]
Extra Limbs
Independently Focusable Eyes
Lack of head vulnerability (distributed brain)
Pressure Support [2]
Psi-active
Secret Communication (chemical cues, limited)
Semi-amphibious
Shell (DR 3)
Venomous
DISADVANTAGES:
--------------------------
Color-blindness (total)
Increased Life Support
Intolerance (other sapient species)*
ORH [hates other sapient life, consumes sapient beings]*
Phobia [fire] (mild)*
Slow thinking (+25% on all mental-based skill and ability time)
Vulnerability [dehydration]
PSIONIC ABILITIES:
---------------------------
ANTIPSI [10]
Psi Static-IQ
Psychic Invisibility-1Q+10**** (Enhanced: additional +10 against
Cythorax only)
BIOPSIONICS [5]
ESP [15]
Clairvoyance-IQ+5 or higher
Clauraudience-IQ+5 or higher
PSYCHOKINESIS [0]**
TELEPATHY [3]
Telereceive-IQ***
Telesend-IQ***
TELEPORTATION [0]**
* Any individual Shryn lacking this psychological trait should have a
_very_ Unusual Background or other notable oddity.
** No known instance of this Power among the Shryn, any Shryn
possessing it should have Unusual Background or other special case.
*** All use of these skills with other sapients, or by other sapients
on Shryn, are at -5.
**** For information about this skill see here:
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.frp.gurps/msg/ac1977b15ee2831f?hl=en