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The borderworld Xen; Scientifically Accurate Half Life universe.
Topic Started: Dec 6 2017, 12:09 PM (243 Views)
LλmbdaExplosion
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Vieja Argentea the oscar cichlid
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The Borderworld Xen
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This place,unlike others,have been discovered very recently,after 14 million years of technological advancements,by a bird/dinosaur-like sophonts derived from poultry ,created by humanity sometime ago.They colonised almost all the Milky Way,in a sense,where the new planets are safe from all dangers,passing some filters such as killing themselves.One of the dangers are the Gamma Ray bursts.Now the space travel technologies of the Avilotherians,are very fast by technological standards,but still slow for the light itself.Until 4 million years later,they traveled to the Xen c41a galaxy,a colorful giant galaxy that is full of glowy green and blue nebulas.An old place full of heaven-like planets. This is however is very old,since the lack of violent stelar activities.From Milky Way,the distance is quite big,9 galaxies away,but a sand particle by Universe's standards.A larger Galaxy system,the Xen,is full of moon sized planets that have atmospheres and life.Well,the life is strange and stranger,because of the habitats they live in.The 38 or so worlds have the same clades,because an advanced civilisation put them there.The sun is similar to the Proxima Centauri.The 45 satellites orbit a bigger planet than Jupiter in the Goldilocks zone.Since the Earth sized jovian moons orbit the huge planet,the planet GJ 324,appears day and night in the sky,and alongside the shiny dusty green to orange neon colored nebulas,creating for the Avilotherians a beautiful sight for the sore eyes,unseen in other systems and the Sol system itself...............The humans are gone,but their children now, passed this legacy even further:the thrist for discovering new things and places.................

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Short-Informations about Xen.

Fauna-------->"vertebrates" or "tetrapods".


The first moon in the Xen system,named Sio203OB,is the place that caught the explorer's atention,because not only of the wildlife discovered here,but also because of the richness of the Quartz crustal deposits.The fauna is quite cephalopod or reptile-like in apparence,named Sauroxenoids,that are very diverse.They are in a sense,the amphibians and reptiles of our world.Because the sophonts wanted to know what is the evolutionary history of these clades,they researched,even if a few survey researches died in the mean time exploring the vast areas and continents of Sio203OB.The age for multicelular life is thought to be 4 billion years old.Unlike Earth,the jovial moons weren't that affected by comeths or gamma ray burst extinction types.The first clade they encountered in the very first survey,were bullsquids,a predatory group analogous of mekosuchids and labyrinthodonts that inhabit almost all the six continents of the worlds Sio203OB,Ti345 and other 30 satelites.The anatomy of bullsquid is quite peculiar because,with 400 species,around,the 6 clades don't actually fit a simple description.Some are scaly ,some have amphibian-like skin that is used for breathing.Their favorite prey is the headcrab,an invertebrate analogous to the insects and crustaceans that live in rocky areas.



Anatomy:Xenian's such as Xenotherians and Sauroxenoid's inner skeleton is actually made of a calcium-like metal that made the skeleton.However these animals are the offshoot of a more diverse,"advanced" group named the Xenotherians,that resemble theropods,reptiles,pterosaurs and mammals.The theropod-like body lacks arms,so they don't have any means of manipulation in the conventional way.But that's not the end of life,because xenian aliens found their own ways to manipulate with some eerie appendaces such as the mouth tentacles or hairy snouths,used for mating or for catching prey or tail hooks.Unlike earthlings,bullsquids for example are nicknamed by some Avilotherians ,the devil salamanders,they have a special organ that can make them to produce a toxin that have the ability to work the same as a snake's venom.If they feel threatened,since some species are territorial,the creatures could spit the toxins far away as means of intimidation.This unknown substance is possibly a form of enhanced cyanuric acid that in hight quantities,it could kill the prey.The coloration of some species is the same as some reptiles,birds and fish of Earth.

Bullsquids


------------The legs are the only limbs found in a bullsquid.The limbs are quite musculous,made for short burst of speed,because of their sticky strings,tendon-like formation that store enought energy that can make the bullsquids quite fast.If no meal is found near them,they could run effortlessly without tiring up,thanks to the camel-like tendons.The bones are quite similar to ours.The legs end up in a foot with 3 toes that have claws similar to a theropod.In an isolated island,a big herbivorous species evolved hoofs derived from claws.They fight during mating season by kicking in the same manner as kangaroos or by using their tails as weapons that can spell doom to the victims.



-------------The nervous system different from that of tetrapods,having a less sophysticated system.The main commanding organ ,the brain is located near the "ribcage",that is made from many "neurons" that unite to create a single unit called the ultimacortex that works in the same way as a normal brain will do.The skin is filled with receptors that could be capabile of "tasting" the habitat when they search for edible matter.As a mater,the mouth tentacles have the most receptors,using them not only as "hands" but also as "barbels",found in ancient fish like catfish,that could be used to dig for hidden lifeforms.



---------------------The tail is another thing that Avilotherians found interesting and unique.In some arboreal species,the tail is used for grasping "branches" or for keeping helpless prey,if they are standing on an object.The most of Therocephaloids however,use the tail in a defensive or to inflict damaged upon intruders or prey alike.The tail ends in a sharp spike-like appendace that works the same as a scorpion's tail.The red devils,are a type of bullsquids that use the spike in the same way as Stegosaurus.

--Breeding:They lay eggs in nests that are near the water,and are guarded by both parents,one at a time.These eggs are like frog eggs,but the scaly bullsquids lay normal eggs like lizards do.When the eggs,hatch,the parents will keep them in small pools or burrows,avoiding predation and exposure.That was the most difficult part of the expedition for Avilotherian scientists.In amphibian variants,the babies will feed on the mucous of the skin for two days before tasting solid food for the first time.The growths is slower in these aliens for the most part.At an adult age,most of these begin to tackle much bigger prey,such as megafaunal herbivorous ichthyosaurs.The first prey they will encounter,will be the common headcrab,a breeze to kill for their adult counterparts.After one or two weeks,the babies are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness where ar every step,there could be ar least a new danger.







Species of bullsquids:


Yellow Devilsquid(Theropocephalus Caerulus)-This bullsquid is the rarest and the deadliest of them,living in the small island near the southern part of the continent,also being the most venomous as well.Their tip of the tail and the foot is black while the body has a deep yellow coloration.The eyes are yellow two ,with the black pupil being crossed by a black stripe,as seen in some reptiles on Earth.They have a more terrestrial lifestyle than the average bull, but they have crocodiles like scales.They live lonely lidmfe,being very agressive to their conspecifics.The largest,they have no enemies,besides the sophont ickies,that learnt that they are very impulsive and prone to short burst of aggressivity.When yellow devilsquids attacks,they mostly ram their victims to death,instead of bitting and swinging the tail(Sio203OB).



The Spotted Squid-(Therocephalus Nigroviridis)-A green with black spots bullsquid,is a small sized alien that lives in Xen Fungus swamps of freshwater and brackish areas or coastal/inland forests.This is an oditity among bullsquids ,because they have a prehensile tail,that is an uncommon trait in these animals on Xen.They rarely leap from fungus to fungus with it's parakeet-like legs.It's a leap of faith,but leaping is something that this peculiar species is good at.


The Leopard Squid (Cephalopulcher Terroris)-This animal lives in one planet,the TI652OB.It's brown colored,with spots all over the body,much like a spotted feline.The tentacles are red,and the claws are pointed and hook-like,hunting in the same style as a hawk,excluding the flight.They jump towards an unsuspecting herbivore ,much like a puma,the prey being finished off by the snake-like teeth with venomous effects.Not much is known about them,besides that they make nests to lay eggs in the top of trees to make the access to the nest by egg stealers very hard.


The Green Peacock (Cephaloverda Lupum)-This mice or possum-sized colorful bullsquids are very social for bullsquids.Being green anole colored aliens,they use skin flaps and sounds for communication,or on a lesser extend,the short tentacles.During the night,they come out of their burrows to feed and play or nurture young.A related species,the Gemmocephalus ,is a blue cobalt colored,that lives in the remote areas of some moons such as Cl57OB or MK57OB.These animals have been captured for the pet trade by the newcorners because of the behavior and colors.The courage of these xenians is huge,because they will sens away any enemies that intends to eat or destroy the community.













Ichthyosaurs-The most diverse creatures in these worlds,they are distant relatives of bullsquids.They rule the Xen seas,"grasslands",caves,mountain ranges of even developed powered flight.Unlike tetrapods,all ichthyosaurs lack hind limbs,so they are walking on the front limbs.Aquatic variants have a scite-like claw that is used for impaling prey.The "cranium" of these beasts is empty,so they can create loud sounds that could be heard from 7 kilometers.Like our dinosaurs and mammals,ichthyosaurs have different sizes and diets,some being predators,some being herbivores and some being omnivores.The smallest creature is actually mouse sized.The fur of these aliens is actually derived from tiny scales on the skin from the age were the first land aliens emerged.Ichys,have their nostrils and gills located around shoulders.The first species of ichthyosaur found was in a lake on Sio203OB at the north pole,where is humid and warm.The teeth are very sharp indeed,because one bullsquid was found with giant gashes made by a freshwater Ichthyosaurs,during expeditions.Sophonts emerged from these aliens,resembling crocodiles with long arms that migrated outside of Xen to fi to other galaxies that are safe.Some species were kept as pets by the Avilotherians ocasionally.The pets were keep mostly in aquariums and terrariums,being sold by very big prices in pet stores found around established Xen colonies.




Anatomy of the ichthyosaurs---


The skeleton ,in general is very robust in most species,the "ribcage" being a cage like structure,protecting the animal from internal lesions or attacks.Despite they lack hind limbs,there are no trace of these limbs,not even a few vestigial milimetric bones.The "primitive" bullsquids,lack the opposite,the front limbs that the relatives have.The colonists were baffled by this difference itself,year after year,but a further inspection of the both clade's skeletons during a dissection,hold the real answer:bullsquids actually walk on their arms too,because the common ancestors of these didn't evolved the hind limbs back during a distant age that began the age of life in Xen.But evolution done with these animals a spectacular thing,to make their legs usable as hands and legs in the same time, seen in some birds today.The stomach of ickies is made out of two chambers,one that digest the food and the other extra smaller part is made for keeping water for rought times,acting as a bottle.Thr brain is located in the shoulders,and is much bigger and complex in structures than that of most xenian creatures.The organe are lung like in texture and shape,and some of them work the same as these of humans.The eyes however,are similar to that of mantia shrimp,in terms of quality of eyesight,seeing a little better than Earth's vertebrates,putting us and others to shame.The guts are almost the same in function as well.The gills or nostrils are located near armpits of the creature instead near mouth like in humans.The hairs are somehow identical to that of spiders.The surprize that comes is that they have moray eel like secondary set of jaws,so when an ichthyosaur grabs y,you don't have a really big chance of escaping without a huge wound.

































Species:


Aquatic -
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Doomfish(Xenotherus Ichthycanthus)-The most common aquatic ichthyosaurs that lives in lakes and estuaries and even shallower seas of Xen.They have an accute sense of hearing and sight,having an ability to catch flying animals in mid flight.The top of the head is red while the body is green with a deep black back and yellow eyes that have cat-like pupils.A quite eerie combination indeed.Being 3 meters long,it is big as a great white shark.They live in very deep cenotes too, that lead to the sea.They rarely hunt in the same style as the orcas of the Holocene.



Polyptoxerus(Xenopolypterus Giganteus)-A bichir-like sea dwelling ichthyosaur,they have an elongated body made for swimming fast,in a snake like manner.When the low tide comes,around tentacle reefs,this alien slithers around to catch fish-like aliens stuck in tide pools,the Leeches.Is brown with black stripes,being 4 meters in lenght.Much like the bichirs that were hunted by spinosauroids,these critters weren't the top predators of xenian waterways and beaches,having always been stalked by their distant relatives,the Azdarchid-like ichthyosaurs named Gliderotheriums,that have long limbs and elongated snouts full of whiskers like extensions around armpits or Spinosaurus like ,the Brontoextranoids that could kill one of these critters in one snap.They are the oldest group that gave rise to present day ichthyosauridae genus.Rarely,they venture into lagoons to spawn thousands of eggs that will be taken away by the currents.Statisticaly speaking,only a handfull survive to the adulthood.They appeared during the Devonian of our timeline.


Basiloxerus (Xenoelongatus Ingens)-Ingens or Basiloxerusians,are cetoid shaped,and are actually secondary aquatic,that lack gills,because they have tail flukes similar to mosasaurs or whales,that swim in the blue waters of estuaries in 27 satelites among Xen fungus or tentacle forests.The nostrils have moved on the back to form "blowholes".Coloration is blue with black marks on the snout and white belly,to be invisible for the "fish" underneath them.Big amphibious ichthyosaurs and bullsquids are in the menu such as Arsinocarnodons and Carnoxerus(bullsquids).The flippers have a small middle little claw that is used for mating,a legacy from their terrestrial ancestors that used these as weapons,only now to be used for grasping the bodies ,while entangling each other,a job that is made because they are big free floating aliens.During the monsoon season,the Basiloxerusians follow the leech schools in order to eat and trap them by creating bubble walls.They display the same intelligence as our cetaceans.



Terrestrial variants-

Aardlien(Xenodontonix Rapidus) -Aardliens are lion or entelodont like predators that live in 24 satelites in some continents and islands.They have cheetah like legs,that help them to deal with fast running prey.They posess a mane made of hairs that make them resemble male lions.Althought fast moving,they can ture up fast because they are bulky.During Avilotherians apparence on Xen's open space or "grasslands" they were almost extinct because of habitat degradation and prey dissaparence.Luckily,they have been saved because ,the chicken civilisation cared a bit more than humans about nature,giving the creatures endangered because of them a helping hand.The fossil record shows that these animals were recently the replacements for another carnivores that went extinct,due to temperature swing,Something uncommon for a tropical place such as this borderworld.Aardliens appeared during the Miocene of our world,evolved from small ,shrews sized omnivores.Smaller aardliens such as the rattlebacks feed for example on worm-like invertebrate aliens such as the kingpins,worms with sharp chitinous legs that can hurt the attacker.






Brontoextranoids(Xenosuchus Festivum)-The Brontoextranoids are Baryonix/bear like carnivores that walk on their knuckles,because the claws are very fragile but very good at killing aquatic prey that they eat.Eating leeches and aquatic Headcrabs or even baby bullsquids,they have a narrow range of foodstuffs to choose from,despite in the dry season,the rivers shrink and dry,leaving very few ponds,leaving the xenian river bottom exposed and the dead unlucky aliens that didn't managed to swim away in safety.They are big as elephants,and they can even swim after their big prey.



SweepSwifters(Saurorius Aledaquatlus)-flying Ichthyosaurs that mastered the air.These otherwordly creatures resemble pterosaurs and bats ,and even without the back legs,they use strong prehensile tails for support the weight on all surfaces.They have feather like teguments that make them mentaining the body up,using the currents for flying in every direction.Their calls during the morning are quite evident in almost 36 of the worlds,someone today could mistake them for bird calls.From sparrows to giraffe sized,they rule the skies for almost 200 mya.When they mate,they use colored hairs as a mere display of dominance and to show the females,that he is a good source for good genes.There are even owl like aliens that hunt at night small rodent or snake-like nimble Ichthyosaurs.


For now,the observations have stopped for a short moment because the Avilotherians that remained here are working on some new plans for the next years on new expeditions.They befriended Vortigaunts,a native advanced peaceful civilsation that wants to show them almost everything .The desire to discover new aliens is very strong,but they should be worried about meeting new sophonts ,because they already received new message from unknown sources,near the exterior of Xen c41a.From now they have plenty of time for preparing.




Edited by LλmbdaExplosion, Dec 6 2017, 12:15 PM.
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You got to turn this into something readable, this is just a massive chunk of writing that is hard to follow. The spaces don't follow a rule, heading have nothing to emphasize importance. Even the most flexible of grammar laws have been blatantly broken. Sentences are unnecessarily long, mostly do to use of commas. Quite a bit of information is not needed and hurts the whole. There a few odd word choices such as bird/dinosaur like sophonts, even though they would defiantly be birds due to be being descended from poultry. Unless of course you are saying they look like dinosaurs. A better way of saying this would be something like,(Bare in mind this is my opinion)by (no a as the next word does not start with a vowel) a dinosaur like poultry derived sophont created by humanity long ago. Also what does[
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a sense,where the new planets are safe from all dangers,passing some filters such as killing themselves.
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I also like a wide variety of Abantu abathandekayo, Happy Birthday!
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