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| Xeno Terra: The Wastelands; Plains as far as the eye can see... | |
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| Topic Started: Aug 4 2012, 07:17 AM (953 Views) | |
| DNArchitect | Aug 4 2012, 07:17 AM Post #1 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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An Ocean of Grass What was once a sprawling suburban area is now a great plain stretching for kilometers. Forests dot the landscape, its exploration I shall deal with for later. Houses were reduced to ruin and covered by vegetation. Few remain standing, even fewer left intact. Now, I am focused on finding the new game of this alien Serengeti. My first sign of fauna came as a herd of Lancebucks heading for the river. These horse-like creatures (certainly faster than horses) have huge forward-pointing spikes on their shoulders. These are used for protection and mating duels. Due to the sharpness of the spikes, they have tough scutes. Light but effective, they do the job well without dragging more weight on the animal. The herd trampled over the swaying Stripestalks. Knowing that this was game, I climbed up shady tree some six meters high. This gave me a commanding view of my surroundings. Two-hundred yards to my right, tall herbivores that walked on their hands browsed the canopy of several trees. Behind me, a chase between a Tri-runner and an Arachno-Jaw ended in a failure for the predator. Then I focused my attention on the Lancebuck herd. As they approached the river, I saw a dark figure crouching in some bushes twenty meters away. Being obscured by the plantoids, I couldn't quite make out the creature. When the herd got within a few feet from the water, it burst out in a flurry of leaves and dust. The predator didn't lunge at an individual Lancebuck, it merely incited a frenzy. The biped stood at least eight feet tall, with a prism-like rectangular head with no discernible face. On the sides of the face were distinct horizontal grooves. The creature sprinted to the nearest fleeing Lancebuck, and started to brush its head on it while moving. From my angle of view, I didn't know that the Saw Raptor, which I named, was feeding on it through this method. The grooves on the sides of its head were for feeding. When pursuing a prey item, the predator would come by the flanks, and begin shaving the flesh of the side of the creature. An unusual and gruesome method, it usually leaves the prey alive but wounded. Sometimes the Raptor would return to continue feeding, even if the prey died. Many animals in the Wastelands bear the scars of these attacks. Its not uncommon to see a herd with at least three members scarred by Saw Raptors. Life comes and goes in the Wastelands, blood always shed on the miles of dirt and Stripestalks, which in turn fuel the food web again. Those scars are normal out there. In many ways, I feel that the surviving prey reflect us and our current way of life. Why am I putting my opinion in this? I don't know. I do know that looking at those scars is like staring at the message hidden within graffiti on a wall. Pack Wars A ubiquitous predator of the Wastelands was the Bullwolf. Horned, aggressive and cooperative, their pack hunting skills gave them an edge to stay higher on the food chain. Often times I saw them rounding up prey and ramming it to death with their bony heads. Sometimes they notice me, but do not express a desire to hunt. Usually, when two packs meet, they work together to take down a much larger prey animal, then after sharing the feast they part ways. Recently, they have become more and more violent. I suppose this was due to a changing season, because their favored prey, the gerenuk-like Spurred Grazer, was still in acceptable numbers. I remember one such battle in this Pack War. After a rare kill on a Tri-runner, the scout of a second pack sneaked up on them from the ruins of a house. One of the pack members saw the scout and alert the others. The scout ran back to alert his own pack, and the first group sent two of their kind to kill it. Five minutes later, the two dragged the scout's bloody carcass back to their kill site, and proceeded to eat it along with the Tri-runner. The King of the Wastelands The dark ruler of this vast, open biome is the aptly-named Crusher. Measuring at least ten meters in length, with a large, skull-like head, its appearance is a bane for herbivores grazing on the plains. Rumors had abound in the city of a huge monster prowling the Wastelands, whose jet-black face was Death itself. Of course this was exaggeration, but when I saw the beast for myself I realized that the truth was closer to those descriptions than I thought. It was a regular day out on the Wastelands. There was a small, thick, grove of trees to my left, and a moving herd of Choir-horns were feeding as usual. The singing of the Choir-horns was symphonic and oddly rhythmic in nature, and fit in perfectly with the dawn of the morning. That day, I didn't expect the soothing orchestra to stop abruptly. When a pair of juveniles strayed from the herd and approached the tree-line, they stopped, observed something in the grove then frantically ran back to the herd, very agitated. Suddenly the trees burst to reveal the huge predator. It ran straight at the herd, almost trampling over the lucky juveniles. The panic ended swiftly when the Crusher grabbed hold of an old Choir-horn by its back. I still remember that day, the off-key tones of the roused herd, and those black, soulless infrared pits that were in place of eyes. It dawned upon me as a chimeric hybrid of a shark and a T-rex. But this was no genetic freak, this was a predator, evolved and perfected in its art. I imagine it reigned supreme back in its original home, but here it has shown to be adaptive as well. The Crusher's jaw is a unique appendage. It is a true jaw, but does not lead to an open throat. It is hard and bony, and is actually used for sucking out the prey's fluids. The sharp, curved tips and tooth-like projections are hollow. When the Crusher clamps down on a prey item, it doesn't rip it to pieces, but merely grips tight as the fluids are being sucked up by the dentons. This feeding method gave me a new image of this dark predator, that of a vampire and, as the stories say, the face of Death. Don't Go In the Long Grass Flex-weed measure at least five feet tall. Sometimes they go up to six-and-a-half feet tall. The native creatures cope well with this. My first creature was discovered totally by chance. While sitting on a Roof Tree, I saw several stalks that were quivering against the breeze. Peeking through my binoculars, I saw that these rogue stalks had small eyes on them. Following the pattern, I began to make out a crescent-shaped pattern of the things. I observed their shaking, which seemed to be a form of communication. From my angle, I could not see any sign of a body, but I was sure there is one since the crescent was moving to the right. I decided to call them Stem-Tails. Several yards behind them, another creature or rather, group of creatures were stalking about. Bird-like, with huge kukri-shaped beaks, they were formidable. These were the Guillotine-Heads. What I was seeing poking out of the flex-weed was its killing tool. The true feeding appendage was a tentacle protruding from its chest, which at the time I didn't see. The Stem-Tails began to stir. They were moving faster, away from the predators. The wind began to pick up, and the Guillotine-Heads bolted towards the barely-visible herd. I saw a Guillotine-Head stab at something beneath it. The beak was covered in dark blood, and I heard the squeals of the unseen victim. The other predators also came and fed on the poor Stem-Tail. In all my encounters I have never seen the body of a Stem-Tail. Even when low-flying, razor-winged Knife Hawks come swooping down for a snack, it manages to elude me. I hope to find one soon. Phantom of the Plains A chance encounter with the fastest creature yet is a brilliant sight. The hook-spurred Monospring is a one-legged animal that moves with deceptive speed. It has a hook-like skid in place of a hind leg which propels it forward. At full speed, it almost looks as if it was a biped. Every sighting of this elegant herbivore was a glimmer of gold in the Wastelands. The images of a plated, spring-like spine, luminescent spots and incredible speed always stick into my head at the mere mention of its name. I remember my first sighting of this elusive beast. While wandering a patch of Ripplegrass, a burst of dust caught my attention. I saw the ghostly outline of the herbivore as it sped away from an unseen danger. As it made a wide turn, I perceived it as a mirage of a yet-unknown creature. I decided to follow. The pace was increasing, and I soon lost sight of it. Luckily, the beast left a trail. After following for an hour, I finally caught up with the trail's maker. Resting on the rusty remains of a car was a seven-foot beast, panting from its gills. A small sensory appendage on a nimble stalk probed around, then receded to its place on the crown of the creature's head. It rubbed on the metal with its fused forelimb and nudged its skid a bit. As I approached, the sense organ shot right out of the head and faced me. I stopped in my tracks, and lifted a foot forward. The organ slowly backed into its hole, but snaked back out as if to watch me. Realizing the creature's intent, I retreated into a bush. It stayed resting until I left the area. More tales coming soon.... Edited by DNArchitect, Aug 19 2012, 02:08 AM.
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Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Aug 4 2012, 08:09 AM Post #2 |
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Am I the only one who had flashes of pyramid head during the saw raptor description? |
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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 | Aug 4 2012, 09:25 AM Post #3 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Hmm. That can be arranged... |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| DNArchitect | Aug 6 2012, 04:58 AM Post #4 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Hey you guys understand what I'm saying when I meant by "hand-footed" right? |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Aug 6 2012, 07:04 AM Post #5 |
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The feet are like hands? |
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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 | Aug 6 2012, 05:28 PM Post #6 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Okay time to edit that part... |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Aug 6 2012, 06:52 PM Post #7 |
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OH! Hand walkers! How did I forget that term! Love that body plan, love the new creature, love it! |
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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 | Aug 6 2012, 08:20 PM Post #8 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Its good to know that someone here is loyal to my tales |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| Arachnus | Aug 6 2012, 08:26 PM Post #9 |
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Prime Specimen
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I regularly read your stories as well, I just never really have anything to say. Mostly because I like the feeling of suspense and having no idea what's going on/. |
"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 | Aug 6 2012, 09:51 PM Post #10 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Um yea, basically Earth life is extinct and is replaced by creatures from somewhere else. I don't know where but they just came, killed everything and now they rule the world. |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| Arachnus | Aug 6 2012, 10:11 PM Post #11 |
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Prime Specimen
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What?! Spoiler alert D: You ruined the whole mystery. So there are no Terran organisms? What caused their demise? |
"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 | Aug 6 2012, 11:01 PM Post #12 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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Dude. That's the premise. Everybody in this universe knows that fact. Besides, since Human society is post-apocalyptic, theres still a lot of mystery left. Concerning the great Extinction, the best hypothesis is a non-terran plague that came along with the creatures. The creatures themselves also slaughtered some Earth life when they first came. Its a whole new ecosystem man |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| DNArchitect | Aug 7 2012, 07:06 AM Post #13 |
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Last Descendant of the Post-Nuclear Aberrants
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There, one more tale added. Coming up next, the Tall Grass (got the idea from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" and maybe TFIW Praires of Amazonia.) |
Scientific Fact: Stegosaurus could do this![]() | |
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| trex841 | Aug 7 2012, 07:53 AM Post #14 |
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I would love to see art of 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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| whachamacallit2 | Aug 7 2012, 11:01 AM Post #15 |
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Guy who yells at squirrels
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This actually pretty cool. I can't remember where, but I remember reading something about a total upheaval of the ecosystem. But I'm wondering, have any Terran life forms survived? Apart from humans, I mean?
Edited by whachamacallit2, Aug 7 2012, 11:02 AM.
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Click for shameless self plug! Spoiler: click to toggle Get you one at http://whachamacallit1.deviantart.com/ Learn the life, history, and fate of the tidally locked planet Asteria at: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/5725927/1 | |
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9:27 AM Jul 11