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| Stardust: Apocalypse; The Ecology of Apocalypse | |
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| Topic Started: Mar 27 2010, 05:10 PM (1,016 Views) | |
| The Kiat | Mar 27 2010, 05:10 PM Post #1 |
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This is another one of my source books, only unlike Hypnale, Apocalypse is colonized by humanity. Thus the source book focuses far more on society than ecology. For the case of this website, I will only post the ecological part of the source book, which will be rather small since native animals are background extras for the story itself. 1) The World Apocalypse was once a wetter world, with seas extending down towards to equator. Now, it is but an arid world, with surface water found only in the polar regions. The equator is a barren waste land of sand and rock, where only the hardiest extremophiles live. Humanity settled the world more than fifteen thousand years ago, building their colony around the North Pole and the planet’s remaining sea. Over the centuries that the Atlantian Star Empire ruled the world, four space elevators were built, spaced evenly, along the planet’s equator. Comets were brought in from the outer system, and dismantled in synchronous orbit, where then the water was sent down through a pipeline. The project to terraform Apocalypse ended with The Fall and the Civil War. Civilization was reduced to primitive levels and the space elevators remain, unknown to the human inhabitants of the planet. 1.1) Physical World Apocalypse is an arid world with very little land for human inhabitation. Most of its surface consists of various types of deserts and whatever lifeforms can carve out a living upon them. The planet orbits close enough to its star to make the equatorial region uninhabitable. The world is a quite harsh place to live; even the polar regions are not quite ideal. Water exists at both poles, in the form of a sea at the north, and marshlands at the south. Arable land is scarce and trees even more so. This fragility of the ecology has forced the humans to create various rules of warfare sparing property and land from destruction. E. Indi II (Apocalypse) Type: E (12%) Gravity: 9.2 m/s2 (at poles) (0.938 Earth) Pressure: 1.200 b (at poles) Atmosphere: 78% Nitrogen 21% Oxygen Distance: 0.4 AU Temperature: 307 K (at poles) Diameter: 12000 (0.940 Earth) Mass: 0.828 Terran Units Volume: 0.835 Terran Units Density: 0.991 Terran Units Surface Area: 0.886 Terran Units Composition: Silicates Axis Tilt: 0 degrees +/- 8 degrees Moons: 4 captured asteroids in synchronous orbit Day: 27.000 hrs Year: 105.300 days Population: 28 min (human) 7 min (gobli) 6,371 (dragon) Settled: AY 3340, circa 13000 B.C.E. Level: Iron Life Level: Reptile/Conifer |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Mar 28 2010, 05:28 PM Post #16 |
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1.2.5) Nestral Plains These are the Serengetti-like savannas found over much of the northern polar region. They are covered with clusters of trees near watering holes, with seas of grasses separating them. In these open woodlands, lions, hyenas, leopards, cheetahs, gazelle, all sorts of antelope, horses, bison and giraffe are found in abundance. Cattle are also found in abundance as the plains are used for pasture. Normally, the predators and the humans give each other a wide berth, but in the event of conflict, the human with the point stick usually wins. However, when a Blue is involved, the dragon always wins, and will extract a livestock tribute from the humans they gracious permit to live. Open woodlands are different than Apocalypse’s normal savanna in that life exists year round. There are little in the way of migratory patterns for the Apocaforms. These woodlands experience both wet and dry, but their proximity to permanent water sources, rivers and oases, are what give them an omnipresent life. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| Pando | Mar 28 2010, 07:16 PM Post #17 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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How would Terran life live on another world? Just a little change in biochemistry would cause the life on the world to become undigestable, which will cause Terran life to starve unless Terran plants and animals if it was a carnivore were introduced too. |
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| The Kiat | Mar 28 2010, 07:47 PM Post #18 |
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Yes, it certainly would. Which is why the Atlantians brought flora with the fauna. Their civilization was one based more on biology than technology. For example; a technological society would replace a bad heart with an artificial one, whereas a biological one would grow a new heart. Everywhere they colonized they tried to make it a little more like the homeworld. Although in this case, the flora of both worlds is close enough that no serious (well, the animal isn't killed outright by eating it) harm done. |
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| Pando | Mar 29 2010, 01:59 AM Post #19 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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Actually it would do harm. The terran flora could kick out the stardust flora, leading to biosphere collapses on the planet from the stardustians. And if cats are brought to that planet, entire species of the native fauna would die, especially if they're edible by Terrans. And if they are edible by Terrans, why bring life there in the first place? |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 02:24 AM Post #20 |
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<shrug> When the Atlantians left Earth they brought Earth with them. Look at our own history; turkeys ran all over North America, yet Europeans still brought chickens with them. The same with bison, only with cattle. I know that differents continents aren't the same as different planets. And as you say, biologies might not be compatible, so it is rather prudent to bring your own ecology with you. |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 12:59 PM Post #21 |
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1.2.5.A) Draoyx Size: They average 3.3 meters in length and four hundred kilograms. Head: They have flat heads with hundreds of needle-like teeth used for stripping leaves. Within the bridge of their snouts is a nasal sac used to produce honking sounds by all Draoyx. Body: Their bodies are round, barrel-shaped things with long, whip-like tails dragging behind them. Their tails can be used to slap at nusciences. Limbs: The most obvious trait about their limbs is that their fore limbs are longer than their rear limbs. This gives them elevation above grazers. They have three toes per foot, and each of these toes are tipped with sharp claws. These dig into the ground and give the draoyx better traction while running. Color: Their bodies are covered in yellowish scales, which aids in breaking up their shapes with the rest of the herd and the dry grasses. Their sails tend to give them away Their sails are dark gray in color, and fortunately can be retracted and folded nicely along their backs. Internal Structure: The males have a large sack at the base of their jaw, which inflates to produce a low rumbling sound. This sound can be heard from more than ten kilometers away. It is too low a frequency to be detected by human ears Diet: They are browsers, eating mostly the leave off the trees and shrubs. Their jaws can not chew, so in order to properly digest their food, the Draoyx swallows gastroliths to grind leaves into paste. Lifecycle: The draoyx will hatch after an incubation of between fifty-three and sixty days. They easily fit in the palm of a human’s hand at this stage. Since the herd has a set territory, the hatchlings are usually safe as long as they remain in the nesting grounds. Adults take turns standing watch, and will honk out alarms should danger come from afar or above.Since herds number in the hundreds to thousands, most of the population are not closely related. Thus, seldom will draoyx leave their herd, and even less often will they be accepted into a new herd. In the latter case, it is almost exclusively females that will be allowed to enter. Traveling between herds is dangerous, and lone draoyx easily fall prey. Reproduction: These honks are used by the males to compete for spots on the dominance ladder. The higher up the male, the closer to the center of the nursery is their mound. The closer to the center, the safer the eggs. They bury their eggs in mounds which dot their grazing area. The young are timed to hatch almost all on the same day, allowing most to survive the initial gluttony of local predators. Sociability: The Draoyx travel in large herds across the Nestral Plains, easily matching in size the herds of horses, gazelles and other Terraforms. They have a strong herd mentality, and will follow with any who lead, even a draoyx smaller than most. Force of personality counts for more than size with the draoyx. Habitat: The Draoyx is a sedentary animal, and the herds fight each other for control of the choicest nesting and grazing areas. They range across the Nestral Plains, and across almost all savanna covering the northern polar region of Apocalypse. Communication: They communicate through honks produced both by their nasal sacs, and in the case of males, their throat pouches. The honk of a male sounds much like a fog-horn while the nasal sac generates a rumbling honks. Enemies: Though they can defend themselves against small predators with tails and even claws, they will run from their chief predators, the twinsails. The only other predator an adult needs to worry about is the Blue Dragons that fly over the savanna. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 01:04 PM Post #22 |
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1.2.5.B) Twinsails Size: At eight meters in length and massing two tonnes, they are the largest predators to walk the land. Head: They have powerful jaws capable of shredding prey with a few shakes of the head. They expend hundreds of spear-like teeth during their lifetimes, just like a shark. And just like that same shark, they have a constant supply ready to slid into replace the lost item. Their noses are blunted with large nostrils at the ends, capable of smelling a meal from kilometers away. Their nostrils can seal air-tight, for when they plunge their heads into a carcass. Their eyes are much farther back on their heads for this same reason. Their full color vision is binocular and can detect the slightest movement. Body: Their bodies are lain out much like a crocodile; flat and close to the ground. Their legs do stick out at an angle, but for the most part are directly beneath the animal. They have no necks, instead having their heads just end right into their bodies. This means to look around they must move their entire body. Color: Their yellow-orange scales help them blend into the background, ideal for ambushing prey. Internal Structure: Just how these animals received their name is rather obvious; they have two sails on their backs. These sails move independently of each other, retracting and expanding at will. They can also move sideways, from zero to fifty degrees. Diet: Twinsails are opportunistic predators that would just as soon as steal another’s kill than bring down prey items their selves. Their size means that, aside from Blue Dragons, there are no predators on the planet that can challenge them. Although they eat whatever they catch, their primary prey item are the Draoyx. Lifecycle: Like all Apocaforms, the twinsail starts out hatching from an egg. The eggs are lain in shallow pits, covered with sand and vegetation. They never see their mother and emerge ready to hunt. They will follow the food, usually small arthropods, out of their mother’s territory. Though cannibalism is not common, it still can happen under desperate circumstances. Twinsails grow fast, reaching their adult size in ten years. Once they hit this peak, their growth rate slows down to an almost undetectable rate. Once large enough, they will have to take a territory of their own, usually from another of their own species. Blue Dragons limit their range, and recent human arrivals and activity further restricts them. They live long, solitaire live, running into each other infrequently. Reproduction: Twinsails fight fiercely for mates, often leading to severe injury. Only the robustness of the twinsails prevents many males from being killed in these contests. To impress a mate, males use their sails to communicate elaborate signals. Sociability: Not very. Given that they are mostly restricted to the Nestral Plains, land between the Polar Sea and the Volga River, twinsails are a combative lot, not tolerating incursions into their territories. Habitat: Twinsails are found mostly on the Nestral Plains, with small populations found on adjacent grasslands. The dominance of Blues is one of the factors limiting their advance into new territories. Communication: These sails are used for complex communication between members of the species, which also gives their brains expanded processing power, making them one of the smarted Apocaforms. Enemies: They have no predator nor competition aside from the Blues. They will run into problems with humans should they go after their livestock. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 01:07 PM Post #23 |
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1.2.6) Meleneise Desert Savanna on Apocalypse are dry, barren regions where hardy plants and animals live. In Earth terms, it is the Kalahari. These scrub lands are extremely seasonal in that they bloom for short periods during the rainy season when dry rivers quickly flow. During these short weeks, the native life forms are frantic do feed, mate and rear offspring. Few Terraforms live in the savanna, save animals such as the oryx and addax can live in this environment. Blues also make their homes here, but lack of prey means few dragons live on these savanna. Few oases exist in the savanna and are fought over by the Blues. 1.2.7) Burning Cliffs These are sandy wastelands much like the Sahara on Earth. Camels, addax and various reptiles call it home. Despite the fact that Apocalypse is an arid world, few, very specialized, Apocaforms call the deserts home, and these are being out competed by Terraforms. The only surface water that exists is either in the forms of springs rising from below, or flash floods during the rainy season. The desert is the undisputed domain of the Red. 1.2.8) Holy Sands (Deep Desert) This is the most extreme habitat on the planet, lying well outside the polar regions where surface water simply does not exist. No Terraform can survive in this environment save the toughest microbes. The same is true of Apocaforms, at least as far as the surface is concerned. Multicellular life exists beneath the ground, where the temperature is tolerable and some moisture can be found. Even Red Dragons can not survive in these wastes. |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 01:07 PM Post #24 |
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And that is all for the ecological section of this Source Book. The rest of it deals with human society that lives around the North Pole. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Mar 29 2010, 01:30 PM Post #25 |
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A map of the North Pole. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Apr 4 2010, 12:38 AM Post #26 |
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Epsilon Indi System Type: K5/ (2 brown dwarfs?) Distance: 11.82 light years Planets: 7 Mass: 0.77 Ecosphere: 0.3-0.6 AU Metal: 0.6-1.1 Luminosity: 0.15 Radius: 0.76 Age: 2bin? Mumba Type: C2 Gravity: 2.222 m/s2 (0.226 Earth) Pressure: 0b Atmosphere: N/A Distance: 0.2 AU Temperature: 550K Diameter: 3000 km (0.236 Earth) Mass: 0.012 Terran Units Volume: 0.013 Terran Units Density: 0.979 Terran Units Area: 0.055 Terran Units Composition: Silicates Moons: N/A Axis Tilt: 0 degrees Day: 37.229d Year: 37.229d (0.101 Earth) Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A Apocalypse Type: E (12%) Gravity: 9.2 m/s2 (at poles) (0.938 Earth) Pressure: 1.200 b (at poles) Atmosphere: 78% Nitrogen 21% Oxygen Distance: 0.4 AU Temperature: 307 K (at poles) Diameter: 12000 (0.940 Earth) Mass: 0.828 Terran Units Volume: 0.835 Terran Units Density: 0.991 Terran Units Surface Area: 0.886 Terran Units Composition: Silicates Axis Tilt: 0 degrees +/- 8 degrees Moons: 4 captured asteroids in synchronous orbit Day: 27.000 hrs Year: 105.300 days Population: 28 min (human) 7 min (gobli) 6,371 (dragon) Settled: AY 3340, circa 13000 B.C.E. Level: Iron Life Level: Reptile/Conifer Bakra Type: D2 Gravity: 3.618 m/s2 (0.369 Earth) Pressure: 120 mb Atmosphere: 90% N, 8% NH3 Distance: 0.7 AU Temperature: 260K Diameter: 6000 km (0.472 Earth) Mass: 0.082 Terran Units Volume: 0.104 Terran Units Density: 0.789 Terran Units Area: 0.221 Terran Units Composition: Silicates Moons: N/A Axis Tilt: 17 degrees Day: 38.791 hrs Year: (0.667 Earth) Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A Nissai Type: C3 Gravity: 3.942 m/s2 (0.356 Earth) Pressure: 0b Atmosphere: N/A Distance: 1.6 AU Temperature: 200K Diameter: 7000 km (0.551 Earth) Mass: 0.108 Terran Units Volume: 0.165 Terran Units Density: 0.657 Terran Units Area: 0.301 Terran Units Composition: Carbonates Moons: N/A Axis Tilt: 34 +/- 12 degrees Day: 7.465d Year: 2.036 yrs Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A Delser Type: C3 Gravity: 3.699 m/s2 (0.377 Earth) Pressure: 0b Atmosphere: N/A Distance: 2.7 AU Temperature: 140K Diameter: 7800 km (0.614 Earth) Mass: 0.142 Terran Units Volume: 0.229 Terran Units Density: 0.623 Terran Units Area: 0.374 Terran Units Composition: Carbonates Moons: 1 moonlet Axis Tilt: 9 degrees Day: 91.314 hrs Year: 5.055 yrs Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A Megalos Type: B1 Gravity: 13.245 m/s2 (1.352 Earth) Pressure: N/A Atmosphere: 90% Hydrogen, 9 % Helium Distance: 5.6 AU Temperature: 110K Diameter: 46000 km (3.625 Earth) Mass: 18.685 Terran Units Volume: 47.047 Terran Units Density: 0.401 Terran Units Area: 13.032 Terran Units Composition: Hydrogen Moons: 3 moonlets Axis Tilt: 37 degrees Day: 17.124 hrs Year: 15.101 yrs Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A Senedril Type: A2 Gravity: 35.715 m/s2 (3.645 Earth) Pressure: N/A Atmosphere: 97% Hydrogen Distance: 12.8 AU Temperature: 90K Diameter: 120,000 km (9.548 Earth) Mass: 334.091 Terran Units Volume: 835.228 Terran Units Density: 0.400 Terran Units Area: 88.692 Terran Units Composition: Hydrogen Moons: 2 moons, 7 moonlets Axis Tilt: 0 degrees Day: 8.719 hrs Year: 52.187 yrs Population: N/A Settled: N/A Tech Level: N/A Life Level: N/A |
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| The Kiat | Apr 11 2010, 08:26 PM Post #27 |
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I'm working on a website for Apocalypse, which will have more than just the ecology: http://sites.google.com/site/stardustapocalypse/ |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| Pando | Apr 11 2010, 09:11 PM Post #28 |
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Obey or I'll send you to the moon
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I'll fave it when you put up the species But why do humans need to bring Earth with them? Eventually either the stardust animals or Terran animals will win, with all animals and plants being exterminated and maybe only microbial life still alive. I thought humans learned their lesson. |
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| The Kiat | Apr 12 2010, 12:22 AM Post #29 |
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After creating websites for Stardust: Dakar and Stardust: Nim (both Ocean worlds.... Dakar is F2 and Nim is F6. In other words, surface is lifeless) I just started putting Apocalypse together, and decided to call it a day. Baring catastrophy, I'll finish it tomorrow. |
| The Web Log that connects all my works into one, easy to use, website: http://kiatspace.blogspot.com/ | |
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| The Kiat | Apr 12 2010, 12:24 AM Post #30 |
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I can't believe I didn't think of this earlier: I have Spore and the Creature Creator boxed up in some tubs. I should have dug it out and used it to create Stardust species. |
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Apocalypse_Geographical_Map.jpg (65.26 KB)
9:24 AM Jul 11