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| The Journals; What does the future hold? | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 15 2016, 01:05 PM (1,989 Views) | |
| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:05 PM Post #1 |
neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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This is something of a reboot of my Account of a Time Traveller, but I've changed the format a great deal. Firstly, there's a group of time travellers now - each biologists, experts in their various fields (entomology, mammalogy, etc). They are going to be travelling through various time periods, stopping briefly in each. This is going to be the collected journals of the biologists, put into something like a sensible order. It will be a lot more exciting and more of a sense of danger in this, with a slightly darker feel at times, where as the original was more like happy ride through time with a time travelling Gerrald Durrel. This is, of course, a thought experiment - I'm not going to explain how they built a time machine, but they did. 20 million years hence Southeast Asia, part 1 Southeast Asia, part 2 Southeast Asia, part 3 Southeast Asia, part 4 50 million years hence Antarctica, part 1 Antarctica, part 2 Edited by Beetleboy, Jan 27 2016, 10:50 AM.
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| DroidSyber | Jan 15 2016, 01:11 PM Post #2 |
I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Is it a Dalorian? |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:12 PM Post #3 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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I'm sorry, but what's a Dalorian? |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:14 PM Post #4 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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20 million years hence, Southeast Asia John Greens, head botanist of expedition Well, this is our first stop. We judged that 20 million years would be enough time for some really interesting stuff to start happening, though I suppose we could have gone for an earlier time. We've made our camp in a slight clearing in a tropical forest. The air is thick and humid, and I haven't seen any overly interesting plant life yet. Mostly typical rainforest species that I would expect from such a location – some rattan-like specimens, some Dipterocarpus look-alikes. So far the most interesting floral discovery are some tall, vase-like pitcher plants, the cup over 50 centimetres tall. I can only imagine what the hell they prey on. Helen Woodruff, small mammal expert I love it here. My live-capture traps and bat nets are brimming with bucketfulls of small mammals of all kinds. Rodents, shrews, and microbats are abundant. John told me about some pitcher plants he found – he was wondering if I would be interested in investigating. Well, watching has certainly proved fruitfull, and I now think that the pitcher plant feeds on a sort of large arboreal rat with shaggy grey fur. I think it must be attracted by a strong scent, then falls in and is unable to escape. Presumably the plant must kill the rat fast to avoid it gnawing its way out. Bones discovered and inspected inside the pitcher seem to support the rat-eating theory. Dr Timothy Key, head entomologist This forest seems to be a hotspot for insects, and I couldn't be happier. Having said that, pretty much everybody is happy – except for the botanists, I think they're annoyed that they're aren't any real amazing plants. I don't think that Adrian Danes is too pleased either. He's our general mammal expert, but he has a very strong bias towards large mammals, thus why we brought Helen. There aren't many large mammals in this dense forest. Invertebrate life is diverse in and around our camp. Moths and butterflies are abundant, as are mosquitoes and other biting insects (all too abundant, in fact). Large, glossy coelopterans and massive black millipedes are all over the floor. There's some large snails with beautifull flattened black shells. I'm in heaven here, I could spend the rest of my life in this very camp and never get bored. Adrian Danes, mammal expert Not a single blooming large mammal sighted. There's tracks everywhere in the damp mud, some kind of small cervid I think. I've put camera traps everywhere, but still no blooming sighting of them. Just loads of them bloody big rats that Helen's going mad for. Dylan Brown, bird expert The sheer variety of birds here is incredible. There's colombids, kingfishers, owls, nightjars, passerines of all kinds, various raptors . . . my favourite so far has been some very small doves I discovered hiding in the undergrowth. They have strange, greenish feathers which have an odd structure, and look identical to moss. They're completely flightless, but unlike dodos and other small flightless birds which have evolved previously, they are well-adapted to avoiding predators. Emma Suffolk, herpetologist and amphibian-expert I have found numerous frogs and toads in and around the slow-moving river not too far from camp. Up to now, nothing that really stands out as incredibly special, but they're still lovely creatures. Every time you pick up a frog or a lizard, the thrill of knowing that this is a new species completely dampens the disappointment at a rather unexciting dull brown frog. The most common reptiles here are agamids, there's one in particular close to my heart. The males have a pair of small, stubby horns at the end of their snout, which they use to joust with over territory and females. If they're disturbed, they open their large mouths wide, revealing the bright red inside, and hiss. If you persist, they will bite most painfully (as I discovered. For once I was not happy to have discovered this particular bit of behaviour). Edited by Beetleboy, Feb 15 2016, 11:26 AM.
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| DroidSyber | Jan 15 2016, 01:19 PM Post #5 |
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I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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I mean a Delorean. It's a joke |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:20 PM Post #6 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Oh, I see. Any other thoughts on the project now I've added the first update? |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:23 PM Post #7 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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20 million years hence, Southeast Asia (continued) Adrian Danes, mammal expert Yes! Big mammals, about blooming time. I've sighted a variety of deer in the forest, some barely bigger than Helen's blooming big rats, others nearly as tall as me, but very shy and secretive. I'm not sure what hunts them, though, we've seen no large predators. The biggest carnivore was a civet descendant which I caught on a camera trap. I'm kind of getting bored of this time period now. I want to move on, see stranger things. Anyway, I must go, because Helen's shouting something now. I'll write later, if I get time. Helen Woodruff, small mammal expert I can't believe this. We were all thinking that this time period was interesting, but not too different from the present, in the scale of things. How wrong we were. I'd gone a little way from the camp today, to check one of my small mammal traps. When I got there, I found that it had been tampered with – it had moved from its original position, was smeared with mud like it had been rolled about, and several parts had been ripped out. Nearby, forgotten in the mud, was a handcrafted wooden spear, with a viciously sharp point. At this point I saw something moving in the trees. There were grunts and growls from the trees, and I saw a flash of something that looked like a human hand – but smaller, like that of a child. Whatever they were, they started throwing stones – and spears – down at me. I started running, shouting for help. I didn't look back, but I knew a large group of something was chasing me. By the time, I'd reached the camp, they'd gone. Edited by Beetleboy, Feb 15 2016, 11:26 AM.
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| CroCop | Jan 15 2016, 01:32 PM Post #8 |
Waterproof to fire
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I think this is pretty cool. Seems like they might need to use some survival skills in the near future. (Bonus points if the time machine is a DMC DeLorean) |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 15 2016, 01:35 PM Post #9 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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The time machine is unnamed, unseen, and is pretty much gonna remain a mystery throughout the project. |
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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Jan 15 2016, 03:53 PM Post #10 |
An Awesome Reptile
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I was wandering what happened to your Accounts of the Time Traveller. Glad you started up another though, looks really good. (Also just a little bit here, if you haven't seen Back to the Future I highly suggest you watch it, it's a classic. Don't want to go off topic with this though so I'm only saying this once in your thread. Please no one else get carried away with this) |
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Come check out and subscribe to my projects on the following subforums; Future Planet (V.2): the Future Evolution of Life on Earth (Evolutionary Continuum) The Meuse Legacy: An Alternative Outcome of the Mosasaur (Alternative Evolution) Terra Cascus: The Last Refuge of the Dinosaurs (Alternative Evolution) - Official Project - Foundation The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone) - Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni) The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe) The Ecology of Wakanda: An Open Project for the Home of Marvel's Black Panther (Alternative Universe) (Click bold titles to go to page. To subscribe click on a project, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "track topic" on the bottom right corner) And now, for something completely different
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| Tartarus | Jan 15 2016, 06:22 PM Post #11 |
Prime Specimen
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So I take it there are some mysterious sapient beings living in this future. |
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| flashman63 | Jan 15 2016, 06:42 PM Post #12 |
The Herr From Terre
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I wonder what they could be descendants of... You describe them as humanoid, so human descendants seems fairly likely, thoug somehow I doubtwhat you're taking on the task of human spec, something rarely done well. If I had to bet, I'd say a monkey descendant, maybe some other kind of primate. |
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Travel back through time and space, to the edge of man's beggining... discover a time when man, woman and lizard roamed free, and untamed! It is an epoch of mammoths, a time of raptors! A tale of love in the age of tyrannosaurs! An epic from the silver screen, brought right to your door! Travel back to A Million Years BC ----------------------------------------------------- Proceedings of the Miskatonic University Department of Zoology Cosmic Horror is but a dissertation away ----------------------------------------------------- Some dickhead's deviantART | |
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| Harmonee | Jan 15 2016, 07:27 PM Post #13 |
Infant
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I'm thinking some sort of ape or monkey descendant. |
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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Jan 15 2016, 07:37 PM Post #14 |
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An Awesome Reptile
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I'm willing to bet it's not actually a primate. Could be something surprising like a descendent of civets or weasels. Just to spice up the possibility
Edited by CaledonianWarrior96, Jan 15 2016, 07:38 PM.
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Come check out and subscribe to my projects on the following subforums; Future Planet (V.2): the Future Evolution of Life on Earth (Evolutionary Continuum) The Meuse Legacy: An Alternative Outcome of the Mosasaur (Alternative Evolution) Terra Cascus: The Last Refuge of the Dinosaurs (Alternative Evolution) - Official Project - Foundation The Beryoni Galaxy: The Biologically Rich and Politically Complex State of our Galaxy (Habitational Zone) - Beryoni Critique Thread (formerly: Aliens of Beryoni) The Ecology of Skull Island: An Open Project for the Home of King Kong (Alternative Universe) The Ecology of Wakanda: An Open Project for the Home of Marvel's Black Panther (Alternative Universe) (Click bold titles to go to page. To subscribe click on a project, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "track topic" on the bottom right corner) And now, for something completely different
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| Beetleboy | Jan 16 2016, 11:06 AM Post #15 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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I don't want to give too much away . . . but yes, it's some kind of primate. Not saying which though  Thanks! Yeah, after I had the old topic deleted to clear the board a bit, I thought I'd restart, but a little more exciting this time . . .
Yes, I watched it once when I was younger. All I remember is that I found it very boring - but that was because I was young and I found most films boring unless they were super-exciting. |
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Flamethrower!
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