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Kanaloa; We've got Mud n' Eels...
Topic Started: Oct 7 2008, 11:53 AM (7,539 Views)
agatharights
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Sister Topic to over here. :D

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Approx size; 20-30ft. A slow-moving deep-water predator that sneaks up on prey, grasps it with it's main tentacles, and drags it into it's beak. Nom nom nom.

Kanaloa, roughly the same size as earth orbits a similar star, and is very similar to earth in many ways- except for it's geography and life. The planet's surface is almost entirely covered in shallow, warm oceans (with deeper, cooler patches and small ice caps- it's a little warmer than earth) with very little lands, either consisting of muddy sandbars that can wash away overnight, or reeflike structures that protrude from the water's surface wherever reefs are, as well as 'land' made from large, strong floating plants and some small islands surrounding volcanic activity.

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From a foot to two meters long. The beaked reefeater is a peaceful, if dim-witted creatures that uses it's large, hard beak to defend itself as well was to crunch tough reef into dust when it eats. Cute, no?

But it's not like anything lives on what little land there is, anyways. Virtually all life on Kanaloa exists under the water. Most life in the shallow parts of the oceans is rather safe, consisting of smaller creatures, strange plant-like animals, and the few carnivores and venomous animals don't pose too worrysome of a threat to the adapted posthumans (Mermatees) that live on Kanaloa (They still pose a threat, but attacks and injury are rare or treated well).

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This creature uses it's flattened tentacles to dig up sea-cabbage and sea-lettuce creatures, and then impales them with it's skinny beak before eating. They occasionally bite or nip mermatees or the passing human tourist, but don't pose a great threat. Approx. one meter long.

Granted, in deeper waters, things are a little more dangerous.

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oh god what is it make it go away make it go away oh god

But Kanaloa is a vast place, with much life to be had. Besides rather earthlike reefs, many of the plant forms here are actually somewhere between animal and plant, octopus or eel-like creatures capable of photosynthesis, and the majority of life forms resemble mixes of some creatures from earth. Cepholpods, eels, and crustaceans namely, adapted to fill the niches empty in the ocean.

Skeletons are rare, and anything beyond a cartilaginous skeleton like that of a shark is nigh-impossible to find in the native lifeforms of Kanaloa, although hard, bony beaks and claws are common (teeth less so, but still noticeable) as well as hard shells and spines.

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An example of sea lettuce. The octopod-like body is buried in the mud, the eyes permanently closed in adulthood. As young "spores" the eyes are open as they swim to find a place to root themselves. They taste kinda like broccoli and bacon fat.

Think Lovecraft, for these animals. Horrible horrible H.P.Lovecraft full of tentacles and writhing things.

Enjoy, and do check out the threat above for the Mermatees- my wonderful posthumans. XD
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lamna
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Come to think of it, I don't know how lil guys are. Never checked. Hope they are decent.

Donation in the UK sucks.(we not literally, but that would be fun) "Your" kid has to be able to trace you and then can claim money as stuff, which is why many men don't do it.
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agatharights
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It wasn't hard for me to figure it out. Mom= Horrible genetic history Dad = Horrible genetic history.

"Damn it!"

Ahh...well, that blows. I think America keeps both sperm and egg donors voluntarily anonymous, although Some do let themselves be known so that they can meet with potential parents and parents can make decisions influenced off that.

Mermatees however would have no idea how to comprehend any sort of donation process. "But...it's my stuff...how can you put it in someone else? Is it like feeding a baby?"

"Uh...no..."
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lamna
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Well you never know, you may have got lucky.

I am fairly sure it was pressure for a church/children charity that massed up the system.

Mermatee donation, that would be weird. Oh there could be some amusing mix ups at the fertility clinics.
"Aww he has your gill slits."
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agatharights
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Hahaha. Actually, since I am gonna write the human/mermatee story, I was wondering what that sort of process would be like, trying to explain to the mermatee the procedure between genemodified kids, like actually smoothing out the DNA between them so they have something that's a bit of both of them.

"No, it's like...they take the information in your body out, and the information in my body out, and then...you don't get this at all, do you?"

*Shakes head* "I'm bored. Wanna dance?"

"..."
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lamna
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"Your medium or mine?"

I don't know exactly how it would work. Perhaps you could have the chap with lungs, but with better underwater endurance than humans. Noses...I would say chimp like, but that is not cute.

I have just thought, what are Mermatee names like?
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"Chiikiiihiiiii!" well, they don't sound much different from other mermatee chatter to humans, but they have simple names that usually refer to a trait and an object. It's the same way I named the Scurridae in The New Dawn.

So common names would probably be like "Bright Star" or "Blue Wave" or "Small Island" and whatnot. Family names are nonexistant, since if somebody wants to know your family you'd just be like "Oh, my dad is..."
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lamna
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I thought it might be something like that. Pity the kid named after the penisquid.
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XD

"Hey, penisquid!"

"I HATE YOU MOM."
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lamna
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I expect it will happen, people give their kids weird names.
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agatharights
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sadly true. Yet fantastically hilarious. Then again, my name is "Agatha" so I seem to know a bit about weird names.

Seriously, am I the only person whose been named that since the 1920's? The only two Agatha's I've met were 85 and 90 and probably both dead, now.
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lamna
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lol Cool name. I like it, and I like the 20's. It's like the 60's but without the dieing empires.

I was named Christian, which is pretty weird and also somewhat ironic, given I am atheist, but my parents could not have known that.

Penn Jillette has some wacky names for his kids. Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette?
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agatharights
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Penn Jillette has some AWESOME names for his kids.

Christian just makes me think of Christian Bale. Mmmmmm...what?
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lamna
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Was he the guy in Equilibrium? If he was that was a AWESOME film.

I guess everyone thinks a name is cool if it is not theirs. I would call a girl Ayumu lol.
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HE'S BATMAN and yeah I think he was in Equilibruim. He was also in American Psycho and the Machinist.

Our last name is pronounced "rights" (with a spelling tha means everybody call us "Ritz" or "Reetz") so my brother wants to name with kids William Othello (Bill O.) or Miranda.
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Oh okay then. My name is odd Irish one. Skin that burns easily and a name nobody can say or spell. Thanks grandfather.
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