#strikell

Special characters for Art Fight, they are fossil hunters

Pilot - Sakrro

After a thousand years in the oven, Revamp of SodGol map, where both Sutviprra and Strikell will write their story. The planet is on the end of it’s glacial period, where a north-eastern continent is drifting away from the polar circle, while southern continent drifts into it, as to disrupt polar currents. Water, previously trapped in the glaciers, has been released into the ocean, flooding expansive low lands. Previously dry steppes get saturated with moisture, richening with flora and fauna.

All of northern hemisphere is in a flux, as the modern one continent is a recent fusion of north-east and western landmasses. In process, with diminishing central sea, biomes collapsed and reformed, along with fauna, that is shaken by such changes and following interchange. By such forces, stray populations of meerkat-like, communal, borrowing species find themselves in the tropical rainforest. Tropicasussa are the creatures that transitioned from that state, into the bigger creature with varied diet. Such creature, is to Sutviprra, is as Grate Apes are to people - this species will diversify, and one of the offshoots, will develop in a Sophont.

On the other side of the continent, prosperous ancient tropical forest harbors creature, Jackal-like in it’s niche, develop a sweet tooth for fruits. To protect from other predators, all larger than them, they group up, with one designated member staying on the lookout, while others forage. Older siblings, stay with parents and assist with next litters. Wax and wayne of climates harbors tightening of such social behavior. And so, when the lowlands disappear beneath the sea and the jungle suddenly looses half of it’s surface area, part of this species will need to learn to adapt, down the line producing the Strikell

I summon the monsterfuckers, monsterlovers and monsters of the world to rate my creation. Here are four so far established.

Sigitiru, once inspired by Time Lords of Doctor Who series, but now mangled and smashed around as was my will. All of them are in some way ancient, cryptic and wise, as much as they are primal, modern and hopelessly maladapted for normal interaction. Any individual will be incorporated with some kind of technology, have some sort of weird genetic trade or cosmetic modification. Note, if you wish to court them - they are on average more on graysexual side, as after the deed their bodies are rocked by hormonal surges, that could be lethal. Communication and high trust is key here.

Sutviprra worldbuilding project is currently ongoing and I don’t want to be prescriptive. From what I’m getting now, they are on average more communal, short tempered when under stress and very interested in shifted states of conscience. Their romantic and sensual feelings are associated with intoxication and hormonal changes. Their spermatophore’s edible part is psychoactive for them, adding to their experience of shift of perception while in love.

Strikell come from the same planet as Sutviprra, they manage to get distinct. They have more familiar to people gender dimorphism, with males more colorful, bigger and territorial. Their “hands” - structure inherited from wings, freakishly flexible and scarily strong. This is part of their climbing and running adaptation, in tow with long legs and great stamina.

Zxer name is Zurrow, I wanted to make a joke about how big they get. Their size and appearance, their thunderous calls and scarily long memory, invoke images of elephants and spiders. And, yeah, if you love and know those animals, that good enough. They know about their visage, and play into it when under stress. While friendly, they are incomparable in their ability to be gentle and care. They have inbuilt brushes to groom hair, their forearms have claws, but also cushions to gently pluck.

Descendants of these creatures would colonize the steppes, deserts and jungles, and as the continent moves, mountain ranges rise, also available to them. Rocky environments provide protection from most predators, but also by itself are very tricky, difficult to forage and navigate, requiring complex resource management, planning and cooperation from the ancestors of Strikell. Difficult environment and frequent volcanic winters cultivate the spesies with a great sophont potential. Above all else, they are adapted to think - jaws and scent receptors shrunk as a result of cephalization, the neck is no longer capable of perpetually supporting the head, and the brain eats up much of a creature's energy. They also have specific adaptations for communication. From the ancestors they still preserve a very articulated vocalization apparatus, capable of producing almost any sound on a medium volume, as well as creating far traveling songs for long range communication, though with less variety. Also, what once were konards on a flying tetraptera, now became flags for mood communication. With that, they also developed cacadu like crests to assist in emotional expression.

Their second adaptation is climbing - their legs are proportionately long, with paws having retractable claws, capable of getting a grip on any vertical surface. With that, they also have their “hands” - once those were wings, then heatshedding structure. But it’s skeletal structure allows them to rotate in many directions, and the “fingers” at the ends are very dexterous. So, these hands became adapted to assist in climbing and tool use. In the begining, their routine is travaling from high elevation to the jungles below, aquering food and traveling back to escape predators. For the most part, mountains are a good shelter - most megafauna carnivores could not enter the mountains. Hazards to look out for are either predator birds, from which hiding is the option to escape and cougar-like raptors, against which mobbing, shouting and throwing stones mostly works. Mountains by itself are a dull environment without much to eat, so during their expedition they not only eat, but collect fruits, plants and small prey for later, keeping it in volven baskets. Baskets are also helpful with egg storage - while Strikell are ovoviviparous, in a healthy state laying the egg just before the hatching, but even this could mean from several hours to days of caring for an egg, not to mention any various hormonal missfireings or stress responses, which can cause an early laying. Coming of global cooling made jungle resources more scarce, starting up fierce interspecies competition. Bigger groups chase off every other family, depriving them of food. The exiled individuals have to find another way to forage. Restricted to mountains, with desert on the one side of the mountains and aggressive adversary to the other side, only those, who can innovate survive. Using the mountain range as a cover and as a railway, shelter from competition and desert heat, several sophont species colonized southern, more temperate territories, desert rivers, and even return to jungles and savannas, once they discover fire.