#crashwave | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thegalacticindex · 6 years

Text

Iir, a primer

As cunning as they are ferocious, as insidious as they are powerful, as inscrutable as they are imposing. Without doubt the most feared species in the known galaxy, the Iir have recently entered into an alliance with another, equally alarming species: Humans.

[Iir is both the singular and plural.]

Origin: Iir evolved on a shallow-oceanic world called Naurl or Naulr [the iirian language defies easy transcription into Latin letters]. As is true of approximately 40% of homeworld names, 'Naurl' loosely translates as 'home'. Naurl is a Class Four Death World. Its steep axial tilt causes significant difference between its summer and winter seasons, which cause dangerous weather (RF: monsoon, typhoon, hurricane, crashwave, tsunami). Naurlan life is largely aquatic, as all major land masses are quite low in elevation and thus subject to regular flooding and severe storms. Naurl has a bizarrely strong Coriolis effect (thus far without satisfactory scientific explanation) which causes very strong, very steady equatorial tradewinds and currents. These, combined with the annual storms sweeping across the landmasses, have rendered most Naurlan terrestrial or amphibious life nearly global in distribution.

Naurlan life has an extreme tendency for psionic ability. Many species use telekinesis to assist in hunting or movement, and telepathic perceptions and obscuration are as ubiquitous as visual camouflage. This has the interesting side effect that almost 20% of Naurl's species are permanently or semipermanently airborne, kept aloft by autokinetic levitation (usually in conjunction with winged or lighter-than-air flight). The iir themselves are one notable example, being permanently airborne exclusively by levitation, and being the third-largest airborne species. Curiously, airborne life is a distinct advantage on Naurl, as such creatures can surf the edges of storm fronts to ride around the storm, thus avoiding being caught in it, or in some cases simply rising above the storm entirely.

Naurl's oceans are mostly quite shallow, being less than 300 meters deep. Coral reefs and kelp forests dominate most regions, as corals can project psychic bulwarks to resist storm damage, which tends to create safe "lagoons" in which other life thrives. Biodiversity is extreme, with hundreds of species unique to each of hundreds of coral archipelagos. Competition is equally extreme, and most Naurlan species can pose a credible threat to most sophonts. Poisons and venoms of dizzying variety are commonplace, as are ambush predators, pack hunters, and brute-force attackers. Like most temperate oceanic worlds, Naurl is considered fantastically beautiful by most sophonts who see light in the 300-900 nanometer spectra. However, it is still decidedly a Death World, and visits by any but highly protected science crews, or other Death Worlders, are suicidally ill-advised.

Biology: Iir are bilaterally symmetrical, with six, eight, or ten limbs depending on life stage. Their bodies are a rounded droplet shape, flattened on the ventral side, which tapers into a flattened, tail-like section. Their limbs are tentacles, whose ends branch into several finger-like digits. The foremost pair of limbs have four fingers, the second pair have three fingers, and all other pairs have two. The fingers are kept together almost always when not in use, giving the illusion that their tentacles simply taper to a blunt point.

Iir average between 2.5 to 3 meters from their underside to the crown of their back, and their body's main volume is generally the same length, and approximately 60% as wide. The tail section is usually about 70% the length of the body [IE, a 3 meter tall iir would have a 3 meter body with a 2.1 meter tail]. Their tentacles, at rest, are roughly 2/3 body height, but can stretch to around 1.5 times body height.

Iir biology is a unique blend of carbonic and silicate life. Their basic digestion and metabolism are fairly standard for a carbon-based, deathworlder omnivore, but their endoskeleton and nervous system are hybrid crystal. Their bones are remarkably strong; their forward thorax lattice has been recorded to endure weights of more than 2,000 kg for brief periods. The brain of an iir is a complex biosilicate synapse lattice capable of remarkable feats of parallel processing, which is what enables their feats of complex, multi-target telekinesis.

Iir skin and carapace are translucent, revealing the psionic resonance organ that dominates the upper portion of the body. This organ plays a large part in iirian communication, breaking incoming light in various prismatic displays that provide accentuation and tone to their otherwise telepathic language. The visual displays are incidentally quite beautiful to numerous sophonts, humans in particular, which the iir have recently begun to use to their advantage.

Iir sensory organs are scattered across the body. They have numerous simple eyes around the edge of their flat underside, and two complex eyes at the front, slightly above the mouth. All eyes are equipped with opaque lids and lacrymal systems, while the complex eyes have translucent nictitating membranes. Large sections of their upper dome are specialized for hearing.

Iir have a carapace just beneath the skin, making their form fairly rigid. Their skin is densely covered in very short guard hairs, giving them a velvety texture. The hairs are hydrophobic, keeping them dry in most situations. Iir are good swimmers, which they often do for recreation. Iir can walk without aid of telekinesis, but this is reportedly uncomfortable.

Iir are omnivores of wide taste. Their semi-silicate biology requires a number of minerals usually acquired from corals, and a host of trace nutrients that are widely considered toxic. Naurlan life employs countless toxins, and iir are resistant or immune to many of them. Many are used by the iir as spices or recreational drugs, including capsaicin, isothyocyanate, and various alcohols and aldehydes.

Although the iir body is scantily muscled (their rounded shape and telekinesis largely obviating body musculature) their tentacles are tremendously strong. Records exist of an iir warrior gripping a 10 cm synthetic diamond rod, with one tentacle, hard enough to snap it, and not along any cleavage lines. Precisely what evolutionary pressure caused early iir to develop such superfluous strength is a much-speculated upon topic among biologists.

Iir are hermaphrodites whose role in reproduction is based on age. Their mating habits, like much of their culture, are largely unknown due to their combative history. It is known that young develop in a pouch on the ventral portion of the tail for 3.5 cycles, and are born live. Young are capable of independent flight, but rely heavily on the parent for ~100 cycles. Immature iir have six tentacles. At roughly 370 cycles, iir young briefly metamorphose, sprouting their fourth pair of limbs and becoming capable of impregnating a partner. At some unknown age, adult iir metamorphose again, gaining their fifth pair of limbs and becoming able to bear young. This secondary adult stage is also when iir develop their notorious strength. The maximum natural iir lifespan is unknown, and considering their hostility to most researchers, likely to stay that way for some time.

Behavior: Iir are extremely predatory in mindset, which has deeply colored their culture. They learn a wide variety of skills under the justification of proving their mental fitness to prospective mates. This justification, fortunately, is actually a thin veil for their actual desire to learn and innate curiosity. Iir are generally aware of this cognitive dissonance, and promptly acknowledge its accuracy and then dismiss it,

Iir have humor often described as “caustic” or “acerbic”, finding delight in the embarrassment or misfortune of others, and what humans call “slapstick” comedy. Counterwise, iir also find enjoyment in the concepts of serendipity, good luck, and beneficial happenstance, so long as they can empathize with the recipient of the fortune. Iir find whimsical, yet deep amusement in chaotic, irreverent, frantic, or nonsensical behavior, which greatly endears humans to them. Most iir are content to simply follow an energetic human, occasionally encouraging or helping the human’s harebrained silliness. This observational amusement can occupy an iir for days at a time.

Iir have decently good intelligence, and a remarkable ability to process numerous unrelated topics at a time. This has led to odd developments in their technology, with iirian computers and artificial intelligence being significantly behind their progress in material science, nanotechnology, and quantum state manipulation. Quantum computing was a concept that had not even occurred to the iir until mentioned in passing by a human. Iir routinely conduct computational and data processing roles that most other sophonts foist off onto machines.

Iir social structure is fairly nebulous, The fundamental social unit is a harem of several adults that share romantic relations, though they often do not reproduce with their own harem. Most iir in a harem have one long-term romantic and/or sexual relationship with an iir of a different harem. Each harem rears the young borne by the members of that harem with more-or-less even distribution of duties. The other parent (if of another harem) is usually expected to take responsibility of the young for intermittent, arbitrary times during maturation. This serves to broaden the young’s field of experience.

Beyond the harem, iir usually maintain strong relations with parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, and the children of the parents’ harems, which they refer to as “ripples”. Linguistic research into this seemingly nonsensical name has been frustrated by both the uncoöperative nature of the iir, and their own seeming ignorance of the term’s origins.

Iir young adults roam through their society attempting to form friendships with others, and separately trying to join or form a harem. Non harem/relation friendships often take the form of “hunting packs” which share one or more interests; despite the traditional name, the interests might be almost anything. Still, the name is usually appropriate, as the teams in recreational wargames are often formed of “hunting packs’ of friends, rather than relation/haremite teams.

Iir military structure is either dizzyingly complex or mostly arbitrary, as it has resisted all attempts at comprehension by other sophonts.

Iir are generally unfriendly, bordering on hostile, to most non-iir they meet. After much tense and strained diplomacy, a saying has emerged (provided by an iir diplomat): “It seems to be an inherent part of iirian psychology that other creatures are potentially-hostile food, until proven otherwise.” Iir can restrain themselves from overt hostile action, but it usually takes more than a cycle of regular interaction for an iir to become friendly with an individual of another sapient species. The exceptions to this are humans, jawuti, shakashuks and dakurks, all of which iir are instantly friendly towards and amused by. It is worth noting that all of those races are deathworlders with strongly unpredictable tendencies.

Supernal ability: Iir are strongly psychic, possessing innate and highly-developed telekinetic and telepathic powers. Iirian telekinesis can routinely manipulate masses of 70-150 kg, and there are records of iir throwing masses of more than 700 kg during adrenaline rushes (RF: adrenaline). Iirian telekinesis can be used to throw with remarkable accuracy, and they are adept at controlling numerous objects simultaneously. However, iir have difficulty controlling individual objects smaller than a few centimeters, or making subtle adjustments, and their power is difficult to focus within about a half meter of their main body; for fine work and close object manipulation, they use their limbs.

Iirian telepathy is mostly geared towards passive reception and psionic camoflage. They can transmit data and emotions to other iir or psychic sophonts, but most species require translation devices that observe the color changes of the psionic resonance organ, or are tuned to the sonic musical language of the iir (which not all iir “speak”, or speak fuently or well). Some sophonts, including humans and jawuti, can clearly recieve iirian telepathy at short range, despite their own lack of psychic ability. Use of such individuals as translators is becoming a profitable occupation.

Iir do not possess any ability for psychometry. Some talented iir can, with training, employ clairsentience, but this ability is rare.

Iir do not possess any measurable mystic ability, to the great relief of the rest of the universe.

#humans are space orcs #The Galactic Index #humans are space australians #iir (tgi)#HUMANS ARE WEIRD #death world

159 notes · View notes