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| Xeno Terra: The Canals and Tributaries; A look into the wetter side of the City and Beyond..... | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 27 2012, 06:26 AM (545 Views) | |
| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 06:26 AM Post #1 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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The Riverbank I found a wide stretch of shore where I was sure species would congregate. Already I saw a flock of Mudheads standing with their heads buried. It might seem like odd behavior, but later I discovered that they were digging for subterranean nests of tidal creatures. Back to my point, I stayed there for several days to see the interaction of the creatures. Often it was just herds drinking on either side, other times blood ran down the bank to the river, and Gatorsharks would snap up the occasional unlucky prey item. But there was one special event I wanted to take note of. A Striped Devourer lumbered into view, causing nearby peckish flyers to flee. Devourers will eat anything they can digest, from plants to rotting cadavers. Its not uncommon for them to steal the kills of other predators. Now, I imagined this one's stomach was set on fish-like swimmers, but that was not its day. The second the creature stepped into the water, there was a huge splash, and the Mudheads fled the scene with their mouths full of burrowers. When the mist cleared I saw the hexapod tussle with something that wasn't a Gatorshark. This creature was twice as large, had six fins and a nose that tapered into a sharp, harpoon-like end. The aquatic monster dragged itself on the shore, waving its blade-like rostrum side to side, hoping to slice the Devourer in half. Its opponent was backing off, making several swipes at the beast. Finally the creature managed to whack at the spear of the river creature, allowing it to flee. The loser retreated back into the water. The Mudheads and flyers returned to continue their business. Although I encountered the Harpoon Goliath several other times, they never had the primal feel of that first encounter. When I left that riverbank, I took with me a new fear and respect for the water. A Relentless Hunt I explored the Canals in the Outer City, hoping to find large creatures. I was troubled by the tight spaces and the deeper areas. They really limited my amount of explorable area. Luckily I found a canal which flowed under a bridge, and saw that the creatures were still using that area. Seldom I regret discovering that area, because of one terrifying reason: being a prime target. I know humanity was thrown to the bottom of the new food chain, but the ruler of this domain was one who uses the power of the throne to heart. This particular canal was the home of an Aqua Stalker, a large, tentacled creature with a toothy head. There is something special about this creature, and that is its sadistic and strategic capabilities at hunting. When picking a prey item, it acts like a criminal mastermind. The Stalker poisons the prey and lets it go. Then it follows the target, even out of water, until it chooses to kill it. The poison weakens the victim, but also keeps it alive. I have seen it follow behind creatures for days, even weeks. I've begun to wonder if the beast was really aquatic if it spends as much time on land as it does underwater. I remember the first and only time I met him personally. It was a bright but not so joyous day, and the I was strolling past the canal when a tentacle with a clawed hand shot out of the water and hooked on the pavement inches from my feet. Then several more did the same thing, then its ugly head was lifted up and growled at me. Instantly I fled, running down some nearby stairs into an abandoned subway, the creature in hot pursuit. I ran down the tracks and through a hole in the wall that led into a passageway to the nearby canals. I had a close brush with the angry beast at the end of the corridor, but he was just getting started. I ran across a shallow area of the water and fled into the dimly lit tunnel. I didn't see the creature behind me, and assumed that I was safe. Two blocks later it leaped out of the water. With no time to spare I crawled into the pipe on my right, and the Stalker squeezed his way in also, catching up very quickly. I climbed out the exit point onto a dried-up canal and ran to my left. I climbed a pile of rubble onto the street proper, with the creature snagging my right shoe, but not before I managed to cut his head with a sharp steel piece. Then I headed into the remains of a pawn shop across the street, seeing a huge Razor Tiger not too far from me. I hoped that it would fight the water hunter. I wasn't concerned if the two actually fought, so I managed to escape and head back to my home. But this wasn't the end of the chase. Four days later I was heading to Shackington Village, one of the larger shanty towns near the rivers. I was walking down a dry canal on the way there when the same dark-green clawed tentacles lashed out at me from a pipe on my left. I made a run for it again. This time I quickly crawled into a vent to elude the hunter. My struggling in the tight shaft gave away my position. As I crawled, I caught a glimpse of the cephalopod-like predator squeeze through, his toothed head snapping. This was the same Stalker as before, I can tell the scar on his head from the metal I threw at him. This time it really mattered to stay ahead. This creature was getting closer, and I painfully squeezed through the shaft. Then I saw a light at the end of the shaft, and crawled as fast as I can. Just when I got my arm through the beast bit my leg and held on tight. Several people saw me and came to my aid, pulling on my arm to get me out of there. The tight space did not allow my free leg to kick me loose, so when I was forcibly pulled out I received a huge gash on my leg. It was covered in blood and was assuredly coated with poison. Although I recovered from the wound the poison took a while to get through. The days while I was recovering I caught brief glimpses of the creature stalking me from a distance. I wasn't sure if they were real or hallucinations induced by the poison, but one thing was very clear: the images still haunt me, and I don't think any predator would go through this much trouble to kill its prey. This raises a question of the animal's intelligence, but the thought scares me still. A Cemetery for Ships The lake was drying out since the Extinction, already the shoreline was five meters away from the original. I couldn't imagine the changed climate around the world. My first view of the vanishing lake was the resting place for rusting and decaying vessels, now home for flyers and other small creatures. Still, creatures live in this tidal zone. Aquatic and terrestrial come together here in a strange mix. Parts of the lakebed are covered in lichen-like Quillgrass, gripping the soil with their roots. There was a special event here, one that contradicts the dark tone of the graveyard and reminiscent of the beauty of Earth life. Dotting the tidal zone were low mounds, numbering in the thousands. These were the egg nests of the armored Chelonimander, peaceful water grazers with an exotic tongue. I was visiting the site repeatedly to witness the mass hatching. After several days of waiting, it happened. My ears were slowly being filled with the eerie clicking noises of the young. Of course such a day brings a lot of attention. Emerging from the husk of a half-buried yacht, several Tide Herons made for the newly-born feast. Picking off several in minutes, more creatures ran down the shore, and even flew down from above. All were coming down for this all-you-can-eat buffet. Half of the Chelonimanders made it to the water, and a quarter went down the belly of predators. When the remainder either made it or were devoured, every one left and disappeared, leaving the lakebed as silent and lifeless as before. Real Swamp Monsters Some distance from the city lay small marshes born by runoff water from floods and overgrown by vegetation. As treacherous as it was I still wanted to explore it. Hacking through the plantoids with my machete, I finally found a small clearing where the terrain wasn't hard to navigate through. The glade was accessible from a pathway that was once a road. The Bogtrunk trees seemed to bow over the glade from above, creating a ceiling from which light dappled. In the dimness I could make out several dry husks with holes covering them like swiss cheese. This wasn't a good sign, so I stayed in the tight brush rather than walk into the open of the clearing. Minutes later, a Crested Bedmower waddled into the clearing. These creatures feed on plantoids that are found at the bottom of rivers. This individual dunked its head into the water of the clearing to search for Kelp Vines. As it was going about its business I saw two tentacles descend from the ceiling, one positioning on each side of the Bedmower. Then the two tentacles closed in around it, then a bright flash of light and a loud crackling noise broke the swamp's monotony. The herbivore was electrocuted to death. The two tentacles then lifted the dead creature up to the ceiling, where I caught sight of the perpetrator. Against the low light level I made out the image of a huge spider-like creature with a wide body. Six legs gripped the branches of the Bogtrunks to keep it suspended over the glade. There was a long trunk that ended in a mouth with sharp teeth, and four yellowish eyes gleaming with hunger. After feeding the tentacles were retracted into the body cavity in its chest, and it laid still again to wait for its next victim. Later research discovered that this was another of the rare electric predators that life has managed to produce. I can only hypothesize that the tentacles of this Lightning Spider held opposite charges. When a creature walks between them, it closes the gap like a circuit, killing the prey. It is obvious that the predator itself was resistant to its own electric means of murder, or else it couldn't get dinner without hurting itself. It makes me wonder what other weird creatures came here. Killer Water One of the few microbial creatures that made an identity of itself was the Sludgewater. This swarm of microorganisms can be found nearly everywhere, normally floating in the surface minding their own business. When a creature haplessly steps into a swarm, they change from docile scum into acidic predators. They rapidly burrow into the flesh of the poor unfortunate, and strip it into bones in minutes. Anywhere from lakes to small ponds in the canals, they are everywhere. I remember one gruesome encounter shared to me by some guys down at the pub. It was late in the morning when a guy was taking his breakfast, then when he drank the water he didn't realize that there was Sludgewater in it. He wasn't immediately affected, I imagine the stomach acid killed them before they did any damage. The next day when his friends came and they saw his corpse, his stomach completely replaced by a bloody hole. His mouth was also devoured, and an autopsy showed that his entire esophagus and throat were completely eaten. I haven't heard of anyone consuming the microbes until that story came up. Next thing I should remember is to test my shower. Downstream I decided to follow one of the larger rivers that snaked out from the city to the coast, mostly out of curiosity. I was able to fix up a jet ski that would allow me to move down the canals and into the main river, and its small size and speed would protect me from any estuarine leviathans that would try and snag me underwater. My peers thought of this as suicide of course, but I felt that it was worth the risk. I started my journey from the Westburn Shantytown. It was built right on the riverbank and was well-protected. Already on the other bank were seal-like Merbacks basking in the early sun. From there, my next stop would be at an old riverside dock, which would take about thirty minutes. I couldn't risk slowing down though. Halfway to my first checkpoint I noticed that the river became swampier. The banks were rife with aquatic florians and teeming with creatures. I noticed a tall, wormlike creature with spindly legs wander about the weeds, fishing out anything it can get its tentacles on. Birdlike water waders were prevalent. Some had retractable mouths that shot out at high speed, others had net-like scoops which they raked through the water. There was also something else there, a herd of large, burly beasts resembling a cross between a hippo and a dugong. [WIP] Edited by DNArchitect, May 4 2013, 12:13 AM.
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Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Jul 27 2012, 06:52 AM Post #2 |
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TO BE CONTINUED! dot dot dot question mark
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 07:58 AM Post #3 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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There I finished it |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Jul 27 2012, 08:20 AM Post #4 |
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Question, how dose that creature move on land? |
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 05:05 PM Post #5 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Actually it drags itself like a turtle. When I thought of the scene I looked back at orcas attacking sea lions on shore. A bold move if you ask me. |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Jul 27 2012, 05:08 PM Post #6 |
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So it needs to rely on that poison and that tenacity. |
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 05:11 PM Post #7 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Oh you meant the Aqua Stalker. Well it has clawed hands on those tentacles, and the tentacles are very powerful, so it can walk on land like a weird spider |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Jul 27 2012, 05:16 PM Post #8 |
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Given the fact that these creatures come from another dimension, I’ll ignore all the "you can't walk on tentacles' things for this. |
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 08:48 PM Post #9 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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I wouldn't say just one dimension..... |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| Arachnus | Jul 27 2012, 08:59 PM Post #10 |
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Prime Specimen
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Another dimension? As in a parallel universe or another spatial dimension? |
"The skywhale has been the elusive love of the speculative biologist since the beginning of time itself." -Mike![]() "I shat this pile of pure garbage out in under three minutes while I heated up some pasta last night. I hate it, deeply." -Octo | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 27 2012, 11:46 PM Post #11 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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To be honest, I'm not truly clear of where they come from. They just came. |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 28 2012, 08:06 AM Post #12 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Okay another story has been added. I'm running out of aquatic ideas as I approach the forest stage. |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Jul 28 2012, 09:11 AM Post #13 |
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Electric Spider! Spoiler: click to toggle
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F.I.N.D.R Field Incident Logs A comprehensive list of all organisms, artifacts, and alternative worlds encountered by the foundation team. At the present time, concepts within are inconsistent and ever shifting. (And this is just the spec related stuff) | |
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| DNArchitect | Jul 28 2012, 05:56 PM Post #14 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Wow. That was unexpected, but I did have a feeling that something like that had already been created. I just wasn't sure |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| DNArchitect | Aug 3 2012, 04:40 AM Post #15 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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I added one last story before I start working on the new post. |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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