#bastheadcanons

fish threat displays

Speculative biology funtime based on my very small amount of knowledge of the human body and partially fueled by my love of fish.

Maybe incomplete, I’ll probably revisit this later. I wound up kind of handwaving the actual internal organs part because I don’t really know enough about every system of the human body to speculate! Feel free to steal/adjust to your liking/add more with your own headcanons and knowledge.

A port city lorded over by Governess Setala- A fearsome fuchsia rarely seen, but whose name echoes throughout the region.

Setala, or Danik, is an Alternian goddess-queen of order. She is believed to be associated with the current empress, Her Imperatorial Conqueration. Danik's form is recognized as a troll, but otherwise impossible for mortals to thoroughly perceive, particularly with her face being intensely 'blinding'. Her features are difficult to recall, but most conclude that she is a very tall fuchsia often wielding a spear, with her eyes covered (despite no other facial features being distinct).

Danik's domain is both one of control and of codification: Order as in structure and order as in command. As a deity of Alternia, her domain is thoroughly troll-bound and she is ultimately kin to Alrai, divine dragon of trollkind.

Ikana Canyon [Tag]

An ancient, abandoned city-state located in a deep desert canyon. The city is partially below ground, within a massive cavern rife with magic-inundated flora and fauna. The Garo are the sole inhabitants, living in two hidden villages separate from the main cavern. They were originally a secret tribe of warriors who served the royal family of the ancient city-state. Though the kingdom has long since fallen, the tribe still remains. Okahni - Rustblood - A member of the Garo tribe and one of the last warriors who follow the tribe’s original purpose.

FV (Fishing Vessel) Argus [Tag 1] [Tag 2]

The FV Argus is a modified fishing trawler, now equipped to chase, fight, and haul giant aquatic fauna. It’s equipped with two mounted, electrified harpoon launchers, plus an electric net. They have a psionic generator for the net/harpoon launchers, as the ship’s normal generator isn’t enough to handle it. They use electricity to stun/immobilize creatures they’re hauling, because bringing them back mostly alive is better than dead. Anagyn Felwal - Purpleblood - Captain and main sales negotiator. He mostly handles the paperwork and finances stuff. Doesn’t like to lose money. Winnet Ackvee - Tealblood - Sales / Financial advisor. She tends to avoid the rest of the crew and often stays on shore. Domheo Tehein - Rustblood - Operations Control; Basically he’s one of the ones at the control board, manning radio/sonar + keeping everyone in contact and on the same page Ketler Dobayl - Bronzeblood - Operations Control, Medical Specialist Haelia Fehran - Violetblood - Medical Specialist, Rescue Eryeit Yiheim - Bronzeblood - Mechanic, Psionic Specialist, Labor; She powers the psionic generators when they need electricity Dsirel Terebi - Yellowblood - Mechanic, Labor; He’s very grumpy and he and Eryeit bicker a lot; The two of them have worked together for a long time. Nebale Kaivis - Violetblood - Hunter, Labor; Nebale chases their marks to the surface within range of the ship’s harpoons, allowing them to be hunted without requiring bait.

SV (Sailing Vessel) Thunderstroke

A barque ship currently serving as a private merchant vessel. About half the crew of 20 are temp workers. Many of the crew share jobs. Anirus Hyderi - Goldblood - Captain. After inadvertently causing a mutiny against the former captain, Anirus was voted into the position by the remaining crew. Anaste - Rustblood - Serves as medic and cook, and repairs the ropes and sails as needed. Has been on the ship since the previous Captain; Sweet, but strong-willed. Heil - Violetblood - First Mate, general advisor. He’s spent most of his life on a ship and has been on the Thunderstroke since the previous Captain. Well-meaning and generally relaxed but can be a bit coarse. Domura - Bronzeblood - Sailor with no specific role. Has telekinesis.

The Fangs [Tag 1] [Tag 2]

A mutant-operated gang with a number of lowblood members, without a single member above olive who isn’t also a mutant. Most members go by multiple different nicknames. The gang operates across a single city, but generally avoids stepping on the toes of other gangs, with its primary focus just to provide safety and income for mutants and lowbloods. Members often have one or more tattoos of fanged animals baring their teeth, and maybe hemoanon or wear multiple colors to rebel or obfuscate their true color. Intel, drugs, fight rings, and illegal weaponry are how the Fangs make their money. They are headed by the One-through-Four, a group of four mysterious trolls who are unknown to most members and the authorities. They own and operate several bars (namely Dogbite and Adderhead) which also serve as safe areas for their members, and sometimes also host fight rings. One - Fuchsiablood - A land-dwelling fuchsia and one of the four heads of the Fangs. Three - Goldblood - A bug-winged mutant with future sight psionics. Often warns of attacks on the gang’s places of operation and is something of a bleeding heart. Silans (AKA Lectro or Champion) - A candy red mutant who holds the title of Champion of Dogbite, which is the Fangs’ main bar. He provides advanced weaponry and cybernetics for the Fangs. Missah (AKA Missy, Sis, or Shotgun) - A limeblood who bartends at Adderhead. She secretly reports directly to the Numbers. Doc (AKA Jackal) - An oliveblood with black horns, a tail, and digitigrade legs. Serves as the fight ring doctor of the Adderhead fight ring. Lloric - Former Champion of the Adderhead fight ring. No longer a member of the Fangs. Whistler - A bronzeblood and the main bouncer of Adderhead. Usually wears a hat which shades his eyes. Has sight-based psionics which allow him to never miss a (still) target when using a ranged weapon.

Gaia [Tag 1] [Tag 2]

A long-standing organization whose main purpose is to anticipate and prevent world-ending catastrophies and other major calamities, especially of a magical, eldritch, or otherwise supernatural nature. Gaia employs many mages, mutants, even otherworldly entities, providing safety, comraderie, and income for those who would otherwise struggle on hostile Alternia. Begrudgingly, the Empire turns a blind eye to their illegal members for the protection that the organization provides.

Stormbringer ([REDACTED], “Dragonmom”) - Purpleblood - One of the two guardian deities of Alternia, who provides Gaia members with special protections. Hanabi - Jadeblood - Head of Operations and defacto leader, after the previous leadership betrayed the organization. Mikail - Tealblood - Head of the Investigations branch. Glasya - Purpleblood - Head archivist.

Shattered Star [Tag]

A “freelance” Fleet special ops group which generally performs jobs for the ‘highest bidder’ rather than answering to one authority in particular. Darvai - Purpleblood - Head of the group. Has potent psionics which allow him to view and alter the dreams and memories of those who are sleeping. Zarali - Candy Redbloood - Darvai’s adoptive daughter. Special Ops, specifically assassination and stealth. Has potent illusionary psionics. Two - Blueblood - A genetically altered supersoldier with massively powerful telekinesis. Typhos - Rustblood - A mage with extremely sensitive psychic empathy. Byrron - Blueblood - The ship’s engineer and weapons expert. Enjoys making things go boom. Vallai - Mutant Blueblood (Sky) - A freelance non-Fleet junker who wound up getting caught after saving Darvai’s life. She can turn herself into water. Lilani (Lila) - Yellowblood - The ship’s battery who hijacked the ship’s AI. She communicates via computer-generated voice and images on the ship’s intercomm and screens, and also has access to the ship’s artillery- Allowing it to carry far heavier firepower than the ship’s small size would suggest.

Mad Dog Mercenaries [Tag]

A small ragtag group of mercenaries. They have a small office in the midblood business district which doubles as partial living quarters and a safe zone for its members. They were previously associated with the mob that Nebale worked for, but have since moved cities and gone ‘legit’ since the mob dissolved. Mad Dog typically works in “brute force”, aka providing clients with combatants, chaos, and destruction, but also moves illicit cargo (on the down-low) and has started branching into intel and hacking. Don (Mad Dog) - Candy Redblood/Hemoanon - A hulking hemoanon missing his right forearm, with multiple heavy weapons he uses in place of a cybernetic. Munitions and demolitions expert, and the brains behind Mad Dog’s operations. Nari (Bullets/Blades) - Ceruleanblood - General combatant and field weapons expert. He gets along with Don fairly well, on a professional level. Mattie (Fangs) - Jadeblood - A seven-sweep-old prodigy hacker. Died at 6 sweeps and became a rainbow drinker, and lost his Empire stipend so he had to get a job. Epic gamer and resident tech expert, often acts as the eyes and ears for Mad Dog via self-built camera drones and hacked feeds. Wires - A former semi-integrated helmsman for a private ship. Was picked up by Don when the ship was scrapped. A decently powerful telekinetic and is capable of making simple solid objects (Such as walls, blocks, stairs) out of psychic energy. Ike (Soldier) - Candy Redblood/Hemoanon - An old friend of Don’s and long-time mercenary, even before joining Mad Dog. Wolf shifter and melee combatant for Mad Dog. Tee (Glasses) - Tealblood - One of the first members of Mad Dog. A former legislacerator who ran afoul of the wrong people. Handles accounts, acquisitions, and major mechanic work. Nerizo (Nuke, C4) - Goldblood - Exactly as her callsign implies, Nerizo serves primarily as a professional wrecking ball for Mad Dog. She’s working on other skills outside of combat. Mad Dog appreciates her surprising cooking ability.

Valley Cavern [Tag]

So there are three distinct proteins which, individually, are cyan, magenta, and yellow. troll blood cells carry a mixture of these proteins, determined by genetics, and when it's all muddled together it appears as a caste's hue.

magenta proteins carry salt. cyan proteins improve muscle function/growth or something? and yellow proteins stabilize psionic output.

drones, as blackbloods, have an even and high-concentration of all three proteins, resulting in their blood appearing black.

idk what the fuck would make a whiteblood though. if you say there's no proteins, uh, well. you're not going to get any oxygen, because those cells' primary function is carrying oxygen.

And obviously this mentality trails all the way down to midbloods. Ankiro puts almost all of his stipend into the Sanctuary, but he makes a lot of effort not to appear frugal. He's a teal, and one in the public eye no less. He's not poor by any means.

And of course, poor means lowblooded means lesser.