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| The Journals; What does the future hold? | |
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| Topic Started: Jan 15 2016, 01:05 PM (1,992 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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| Beetleboy | Jan 16 2016, 11:38 AM Post #16 |
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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 Dr Timothy Key, head entomologist Today I found a large number of unusual brightly coloured slugs on a trek to the highlands. There are a number of species, varying in shade from vibrant red to aquamarine blue. My favourite is a bright pink variation of an orange species! It seems that they exude a toxic slime, which coats their skin, deterring predators, hence their bright aposematic colouration. Helen Woodruff, small mammal expert The others say that the spear I found was just a normal stick. They say that the trap must have been knocked about by some animal. They say the things I saw in the trees, the things that chased me, were just some kind of primate or other arboreal animal, curious than aggresive. Strange, because I've never heard of any non-human animal that can throw a flipping spear. Emma Suffolk, herpetologist and amphibian-expert I didn't believe Helen about those things she saw. Now I do, I saw them today. The sun was just beginning to rise, and I was hunting for frogs - then I saw one of them, standing upright amongst the trees nearby. The vegetation and the distance between us obscured my view, but it was human . . . nearly. I was so shocked that I didn't really take much in - just the hand-crafted wooden spear clutched in its hand, and its glaring brown eyes boring straight into my skull . . . they were full of intelligence, something almost human in them. It started moving towards me, and I did what any sensible person would do. I ran. I didn't look back. Dylan Brown, bird expert [spelling errors from original format retained] It's the middle of the night, but I can't sleep, so it seems like a good time to update my journal. Today I found a large owl species by a nearby lake. It has unusually long legs, which it seems to use to wade through the reeds, while it catches small frogs, fish, and eels. Right now I'm listening to the sound of something large moving in the undergrowth just outside the camp. Can't really see anything. I wonder if it one of the big mammals that Adrian Danes wants, won't he be disappointed if he misses it. Wait, what's that? The animal's moved into the camp now, I can hear it moving near the back - near our food. I'll go see what it is.it's them - the ones that Helen told us bout didn't belive her can't breath help me please please pleesepleese hel *journal ends here* Edited by Beetleboy, Feb 15 2016, 11:27 AM.
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| revin | Jan 16 2016, 12:13 PM Post #17 |
Leonardo da Vinci at his finest
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Sounds suspiciously like Sylvan… |
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I tend to get dis– Hey, look, an elephant! Potentially an elephant Fire into Ice, a project about life on a rogue planet ejected from our own Solar System. Check it out! My spec evo YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/speculativeevolution With personal experience as a raven, I am a major proponent of conserving all corvid species at all costs. Save the endangered Mariana crow here. Please don't click.
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| Beetleboy | Jan 16 2016, 12:13 PM Post #18 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Yup. |
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| Sayornis | Jan 16 2016, 12:42 PM Post #19 |
Neotenous
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I'm liking these journals a lot-- the format contributes to a sense of mystery. I look forward to figuring out what this spear-throwing creature is. Are any of the other researchers based on/named after forum members? |
The Library is open. (Now under new management!)
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| Beetleboy | Jan 16 2016, 12:43 PM Post #20 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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No, none, but a few of the characters you've seen already are based off people I know. The entomologist is inspired by a good friend of mine, Dr Roger Key, a wonderfully clever entomologist. |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 17 2016, 08:52 AM Post #21 |
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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 Emma Suffolk, herpetologist and amphibian-expert I was the only one who saw what happened to Dylan. I was awake as he turned his lamp on and wrote in his journal. I could see him illuminated behind the mosquito nets that were hanging around his hammock. We both heard it. Something moving in the darkness, emerging from the vegetation, eventuallly into the far end of his camp. Then we both saw it - a figure standing there, eyes shining, a spear in one hand. It was a primate, with long arms and no tail, but it was holding a spear. I was terrified to shout - until now I had never experienced being frozen with fear. Now I had. The primate had jumped over Dylan, one hand clutched over his face, preventing him from shouting for help. I knew I should scream, go help him, something, but I couldn't. By body was frozen. Dylan's hand was moving, he was trying to write a message in his journal, but then the creature dragged him easily, as if he was nothing more than a bag of potatoes, one hand still over his mouth, the spear held in place beneath one arm. Before I knew what had happened, the creature, and Dylan, were gone. Dylan Brown, bird expert I escaped. Just. The primate dragged me out of the camp, and a little way out into the trees. I managed to grab hold of a rock and smack into its head. It fell to the ground, yowling with pain and clutching its skull, while blood seeped out between its wrinkled, sharp-nailed fingers. It looked up, and snarled at me, jumping forward, spear in hand. I threw the rock, hitting it square in the face, and its head snapped back. It stumbled about, spitting out a tooth that had been knocked clean out, blood dripping down its chin. Then it threw back its head and made a gruff barking noise, blood spraying out of its mouth as it did so. I heard more noises coming from a way away, but coming closer at an alarming speed. It was calling for back-up. I started running towards the camp, screaming "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE HERE!" Helen Woodruff, small mammal expert The primates - I think they're some kind of intelligent macaque descendant - poured into our camp just as Dylan ran in, wild-eyed. We were all awake by then, as suddenly the creatures tore into the camp, knocking our kit over and tearing mosquito nets up. One jumped at me, its vicious fangs bared, but I managed to hit it away with a microscope. Adrian got out a rifle which we'd brought along for emergencies, and he shot at least 2 dead, a few more injured, but anyhow, the macaques fled, clearly confused and terrified by this new weapon. Timothy's got long slashes along his shoulder, bleeding profusely, and pretty much all of us have grazes and bruises from our encounter. I don't like it here so much anymore. I get the feeling these creatures have been watching us right from the start, planning a way to get us out of their territory. Adrian Danes, mammal expert That's it, I'm not spending any longer here. I'm not having another flipping macaque try to bite my face off with its bloody big canines. We had a group meeting, and decided it would be best to move onto another time period before more casualties occured. 'Bout time. |
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| DroidSyber | Jan 17 2016, 11:16 AM Post #22 |
I'll cut ya swear on me mum
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Wait who died? |
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Non Enim Cadunt! No idea how to actually hold down a project. | |
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| TAXESbutNano | Jan 17 2016, 11:35 AM Post #23 |
I'm going back to basics.
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Casualties are 'people who were injured', instead of fatalities. |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 17 2016, 01:22 PM Post #24 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Yes, as Nanotyranus said, I meant injuries, rather than fatalities. Anyway, next time period soon. Maybe 50 million years hence, I think. |
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| Tartarus | Jan 17 2016, 07:32 PM Post #25 |
Prime Specimen
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If they go further into the future perhaps they could see the sapient macaques develop cultures far more technologically advanced than what has so far been seen. I wonder if they would be extinct by 50 million years in the future though, just as humans seem to be extinct 20 million years in the future (incidentally, I wonder what happened to humanity in your future timeline). |
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| Scrublord | Jan 17 2016, 07:36 PM Post #26 |
Father Pellegrini
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He means a DeLorean. Back to the Future reference. |
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My Projects: The Neozoic Redux Valhalla--Take Three! The Big One Deviantart Account: http://elsqiubbonator.deviantart.com In the end, the best advice I could give you would be to do your project in a way that feels natural to you, rather than trying to imitate some geek with a laptop in Colorado. --Heteromorph | |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 18 2016, 10:09 AM Post #27 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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The macaques will probably go extinct, or at least assumed so by the time-travellers. As for the humans, yes, they went extinct, but exactly how this happened is going to be left as a mystery. |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 25 2016, 11:05 AM Post #28 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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50 million years from now, Antarctica John Greens, head botanist of expedition If first impressions of this place are anything to go by, I aren't going to like it here as much as our previous time period. It seems that the continent of Antarctica has moved northwards, so that at its very tip it is level with were New Zealand was in the Holocene. Plant life here is interesting, but not very diverse. There are lots of grasses, growing in bushy clumps, and some large specimens that look a little like Pennisetums, or fountaingrasses. There are a number of plants which I believe to be descendants/part of the family Caryophyllaceae. Ferns, clubmosses, sussocks, crowberry relatives, and grasses of the Danthonioideae subfamily are also present, most likely arrived here from South America. Araucarians, coniferous trees that have been around for millions of years, are the only trees present here, and make up large forested areas in northern Antarctica. Helen Woodruff, small mammal expert No small mammals yet, except for one small shrew caught in a trap, most likely got here from South America, like many of the plants. No other small mammals though. How disappointing. Dr Timothy Key, head entomologist Although invertebrate life here is not as diverse as our previous time period, it is still fascinating. I am assuming 99% of invertebrate life here got here from other locations. So far I have found a variety of beetles (including weevils and darklings), flies, a few butterflies, and 1 shieldbug relative. Adrian Danes, mammal expert I've been watching marine mammals from my vantage point on the clifftops, and have so far seen what look very large porpoise descendants, though I cannot be certain as I got only a brief glimpse of them. There are a variety of pinnipeds on the shore, some of which are very aggresive and will waddle after you if angered, blubbery sides shaking. Other than that, no large mammals yet. Apparently Helen's having even worse look with small mammals, so I suppose I should feel lucky. Dylan Brown, bird expert The bird life here is surprisingly diverse. There are huge amounts of penguin species on the coast, occuping a range of niches, and other seabirds are abudant on the cliffs. I have heard deep bellows during the night, of low frequency and seeming to vibrate right through your whole body. I haven't a clue what could be making such noises. Emma Suffolk, herpetologist and amphibian-expert No reptiles or amphibians. At all. |
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| CaledonianWarrior96 | Jan 25 2016, 11:47 AM Post #29 |
An Awesome Reptile
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Quite like how you went with Antarctica. I'm assuming it moved towards South America at this time, am I right? |
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| Beetleboy | Jan 25 2016, 11:48 AM Post #30 |
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neither lizard nor boy nor beetle . . . but a little of all three
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Thank you! Yes, it has moved northwards, in the general direction of Antarctica. |
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