Race of giant snails.

they eat the dead skin of giants

Scifi.

>>23941342
Alright. What was the species ancestry? Choose one or two.

Arboreal
Plains
Aquatic
Avian
Mountainous
Subterranian

>>23941354
Aquatic

>>23941354
Mountainous and Aquatic

>>23941354
Subteranean and aquatic

Still goin for snails here.

>>23941375
This

>>23941354
either of these two
>>23941361
>>23941375

>>23941375
>>23941361

alright, their ancient ancestors lived beneath old mountains which were flooded in a tectonic shift.

In the Modern Day, Is the planet they are on mostly mountainous/aquatic, or are there forests, deserts, plains, and ice caps as well?

never make a thread with a picture more interesting than the OP

>>23941398
small islands with frozen ice caps
locked within the ice caps are terrible and wondrous secrets according to our creature's mythology

>>23941398
Forests poking above the ocean, situated on the highest underwater mounts.
There is no natural land.

>>23941409
>>23941406
I like this. Massive trees which reach up from deep underwater.

What sort of symmetry do these creatures have? earth creatures all have bilateral symmetry, but that's not necessarily the case with aliens.

Optionally: are the oceans made of water?

>>23941421
Asymmetry
Because why not?

>>23941430
Well, unless you can think of another liquid that can facilitate vital chemical reactions as well as water then I would just go with good old H2O

>>23941421
How about something a bit different?

3 times rotational symmetry around the z -axis, and mirrored around the center of mass, again around the z-axis.

>>23941450
So a pyramid?

>>23941450
Two caltrops stuck point to point?

>>23941464
Kinda
>>23941465
Closer to what I had in mind

>>23941450
very well. Asymmetry is harder for me to envision.

What kinds of sensory organs does this species have? You have 20 points to distribute

Hearing [above 7 points gives echolocation, above 10 points gives the ability to hear radiowaves, above 15 points gives the ability to hear colors]
Sight [every two points grants the ability to see an additional base color]
Smell and taste are linked [3=human, 5=dog above 10 can determine specific chemicals in the air]
touch [1 barely has any epidermal sensory input, 3 is mammal leve, 7 is tremmosense]

I'll average the first four votes on the matter

>>23941470
Wait, I thing I've got this;
A creature with a slender torso and to sets of three appendages/feelers/etc on each side of said torso?

>>23941493
forgot to mention, the ability to see colors above 5 [10 points] grants darkvision

>>23941499
Yup.

>>23941499
we haven't determined limbs yet, but that seems about right.

>>23941493
Hearing 15
Touch 5

>>23941493
Hearing, sight, and smell are probably the most useful senses underwater

>>23941514
Touch could detect changes in water pressure. That would allow you to detect motion.

>>23941514
tell that to the mantis shrimp

>>23941520
Alright then, hearing and touch sounds good

>>23941493
Hearing 12, Smell/Taste 3, touch 5

>>23941537
Bump touch up to 7

>>23941537
Do we really need smell and taste?

I just like the idea of being able to hear colour...

>>23941545
Hearing 10
Smell/Taste 3
Touch 7

If we have a sapient species, they must have manipulators of some sort

choose one of three

tentacle[s]
opposable thumb[s]
useful mouths
symbiotic ally

>>23941557
I'm ok with this

>>23941557
Seems ok

>>23941562
Bottom three appendages are tentacles, and two of the top appendages are tentacle also
The third top appendage is a prehensile mouth

>>23941591
Oh, and each tentacle has three branch like appendages that form pseudo thumbs

>>23941562
sorry, posted early by accident

Hearing 14, smell taste 2, touch 6

Blind in the dark of the underwater mountains, our creature uses its expert level echolocation to hear distant things.

Since they have the ability to hear radiowaves, I'm going to give them the ability to project them as well, allowing them to communicate over extremely long distances.

I'm going to wait a few more minutes for any more input on manipulators, then move on.

>>23941613
Can we weaponize this radio wave emission ?
>we microwave lasers now

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>>23941608
No, 5 appendages. Trust me on this one

>>23941637
Ok, that works too

>>23941613
Alright. These creatures are extremely good at manipulation. Tell me about their movement. We know they mostly stay in the undersea mountainous caverns, do they

mostly use their tentacles for movement through the tunnels
have a water jet propulsion system like earth squid?
or do they have specialized movement limbs?

>>23941630
I suppose their could be a monastic tradition which weaponizes the voice. Most of these creatures only use it to stun their foes, but some have learned to burn their foes and boil the sea with the power of their words alone.

Does anyone want to come up with a name for our many tentacled friends?

>>23941683
Combination of jet propulsion and tentacles.
Use the jet whilst moving in the water, but use the tentacles whilst in confined spaces and on land.

Ashagi?

>>23941683
I think a water jet would work best, as it also serves as a means if respiration

>>23941448
I've heard of ammonia being used instead.

>>23941683
If these guys have microwave lasers, then we're gonna need a natural enemy to balance out the ecosystem. A pistol shrimp like creature perhaps?
Oh god, imagine underwater explosions as hot as the sun vs directed microwave lasers

>>23941705
>>23941717
very well. You said "on land." are the Ashgai still amphibious? I know they were in the distant past, but have they lost that ability to move on land without cybernetic assistance for breathing?

There were many factors which led to humanity developing modern sapience [arboreal movement requires brainpower, fire allows for larger brains, living in close groups requires mirroring of thoughts, handeaxes]

lets make a list of things which led to the development of the Ashgai's sapience.

so far we have
1. predators with the ability to manipulate the water
2. utilization of the microwave beam requires practice and focus and is not inborn.

lets get three more things.

>>23941749
What if sonic weapons? The enemy emits an extremely powerful tone via a membrane which damages to downright ruptures the Ashagi's sensitive inner organs.

>>23941768
a common, yet terrifying enemy >>23941749
these shrimp-like creatures form hives similar to termites or ANTS and build massive underwater fortresses guarded by armored beasts that harness the power of cavitation bubbles

>>23941791
cavitation bubbles are also some of the loudest sounds in the ocean

>>23941768
Still amphibious, water-born species in space is waaay too much trouble.

Other reasons for sapience:
3. A diet consisting of fatty lichens/fungus which is natural in our cavern environs, consumption of which, over time, caused growth of fatty brain matter.

A think this makes sense, but I am just an Economist.

>>23941802
Perhaps they're fighting for the same areas?

I'm also imagining some kind of big fat sluglike creature who uses the Ashbai tunnels as a place to lay eggs and hide.

>>23941824
Alright, nonsentient hivelike creatures with water rumbling powers, undersea fatty fungus, microwave beams.

Lets get one more, then we'll move on

>>23941802
>sea ants
Dear god, what have we done

>>23941885
how about an ice age? the re was an ice age that unleashed horrible monsters from the ice caps, which caused them to adapt to survive.

>>23941854
>I'm also imagining some kind of big fat sluglike creature who uses the Ashbai tunnels as a place to lay eggs and hide.
Do I see some JOLLY COOPERATION here? Maybe they use its slime to fortify their tunnels or protect themselves when on land.

>>23941815
...
Perfect.

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>>23941927
from an ancient era. I like it.

What was the first piece of technology which they created? remember, technology is not just physical, it can also be psychological [religion], social [marriage], or scientific [mathematics].

>>23941957
utilization of heat vents. they used it to cook food, stay warm, etc. they set up villages around them, and the biggest ones now have cities around them. eventually, they discovered ways to make their own vents with tunnels and pipes

>>23941957
Digging tools,then the underpinnings of architecture.

They used this to dig themselves large tunnels in their caverns, shaping themselves areas in the stone which allowed them to wade in shallow pools in shaped caverns, connected by tunnels too small for their larger predators.

They may have also discovered magma chambers/heat vents this way, providing themselves a source of warmth and way of preparing other foods.

>>23942002
>>23941985
these two line up very well.

>>23942002
First: what kind of planet is it? is it Earthlike or a moon?

Second, We've decided that the Ashbai have gone to the surface on occasion. How far has their technology brought them?

Flight?
Undersea vehicles?
space travel?
Robots/industry?
genetic engineering?

If they cannot see, what do they think of the stars, the sounds of distant worlds singing down to them?

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>>23942049
well if they can sense most of the EM spectrum they must spend a lot of the time looking up at the stars
imagine, all those colors

>>23942049
They have undersea vehicles, but are hesitant of flight. They also have developed, not true robots, but exoskeletal constructs which allow them to perform more arduous tasks which their bodies are less directly suited for.

Space has been of interest since the first days of land colonization, especially since the sounds and sensations they gain from the stars when the background radiation of their Sun fades is quite astounding, especially mixing with the sound of the great gas giant which their homeworld orbits.

Their great early philosophers spoke of a great underpinning symphony created by the stars, an equivalent of our own "Harmony of the Spheres", and this has been shaped into a sort of spirituality common amongst the ashbai.

They long to reach the stars, to better hear this HArmmonic sound, and shape it to their will

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>>23942131
i like this a lot
also, imagone if an unsuspecting alien race accidentally gave the explosive sea ants space travel
absolutely horrifying

>>23942151
>Dat hound
>My sides

God, it's just too scared.

>>23942131
I imagine the distinction between land and sea must be truly disorienting.

So they haven't made it to outer space?

Can someone describe their exoskeletal robots?

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>>23942166
sure. They use these to store water, as well as computing power and "extra senses" on land

>>23942166
they mirror their body structure like this;
3 powered legs for supports and a viewing chamber on a rotating torso. the viewing chamber is a large glass bubble with three appendages that can hold many different instruments and sensors

>>23942199
>viewing chamber
>echolocation only

>>23942213
>radar chamber
fixed it for him

>>23942213
oh, sorry about that
remove the viewing chamber and replace it with a large system of microphones and detectors

>>23942230
>>23942199
Excellent. We now have a race of radially symmetrical folks with the ability to hear radiation. They evolved partially due to territorial conflicts with a race of hivelike shrimp who use sound waves in an extremely violent and destructive fashion. Their five tentacles have five manipulator "thumbs," which gives them high level control over their surroundings, and can jet rather quickly through the water. Though they cannot see the stars, they can hear them, and long to sing among them. They are making their first steps on the tops of the trees which stick out of the sea, and are building their first arboreal colonies using mechs.

I really like the way these guys came out. Does anyone have anything else to add?

Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his penis and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal cavity (hemocoel). The sperm diffuse through the female's hemolymph, reaching the ovaries and resulting in fertilization. The process is detrimental to the female's health. It creates an open wound which impairs the female until it heals, and is susceptible to infection. The injection of sperm and ejaculatory fluids into the hemocoel can also trigger an immune reaction in the female. Bed bugs, which reproduce solely by traumatic insemination, have evolved a pair of sperm-receptacles, known as the spermalege.

>>23942281
>>23942295
...I was curious how they breed.

I...I guess..now I know?

>>23942295
good point. When the Ashbai reproduce, do they have
a) single children
b) clutches of 5-20
c) millions of eggs distributed far and wide in the sea

>>23942306
hectocotylus

>>23942316
clutches
they arent elephants, but they arent mindless drones like those damn SEA ANTS

>>23942336
>finally get off planet
>huge tanks of water storage
>sea ant eggs inside
>create cavitation bubble in space

oh the ashbaiity

>>23942316
Clutches of 5-7, Family life orients itself around the extended family, forming clan groups which rise and fall in prominence. Many of these clans can trace their lineage back to the early days of their various civilizations.

>>23942348
>ship crashes onto an alien planet
>come back in a few decades
>sea ants fucking everywhere
all planets like this are quarantined until planet-busting technology is developed

>>23942336
>>23942348
>>23942376
>>23942151
>>23941890
Am I missing a joke here? What's with the sea ants?

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I hate you so much for this pic OP.

>>23942385
Not understanding the terror of the SEA ANTS

>>23942408
you don't like snails on your face?

>>23942426
I don't like snails AT ALL. Slimy motherfuckers, I jump everytime I see one near me.

>>23942426
EXPLAIN THE TERROR! LET ME BE TERRIFIED WITH YOU!!!

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>>23942439

You seem to be...In a lot of pain...Share it with me.

>>23942471
I just can't stand those monsters. Things without bones should not exist, and snails above all shouldn't. They're just so utterly disgusting to me. I'd much rather have spiders or sea ants around. Maybe I am saligarophobe.

>>23942531

Spiders and sea ants don't have bones, either. Mind that the original animals had no bones. Most things on this planet don't have bones. You're the anomaly. YOU SHOULDN'T EXIST.

FUCKING VERTEBRATES
BONES ARE PIG DISGUSTING
YOU WANT CALCIUM?
YOU WANT INTERNAL SUPPORT?
VERTEBRATES ARE PIG

>>23942449
Ants themselves are fucking terrifying
Now imagine them bigger and with the ability to make sonic booms as hot as the sun
That's the stuff of nightmares

>>23942595
I should probably have specified this somehow, but anyway. Fucking snails, I hate them.

>fuuall between

Indeed, captcha: fuuall, snails.

>>23942679
What if the horrible monsters trapped in the ice caps were actually giant cosmic slugs?
hahahHAHAHA
MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAH

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>>23942706
I... uh... pic related.

>>23942449
Alright, so, Ants, right? Even the non-vicous ones get everywhere, swarm everything, steal all your food. You want to stop them getting into your house? Better spray all the way around and hope they aren't coming in from under, see? The vicious ones, like army ants? They'll eat you alive.

Now, lucky for us land dwellers? Gravity's kind a bitch up here. They're limited to surfaces that touch the ground. buggers can climb, sure, but you don't see many comin' up a third-story window, now do you?

Sea ants, though. See, under the water? Gravity ain't such a harsh mistress up there. They go wherever they please. That's annoying enough in itself to an inteligent aquatic race. But then you get to the vicious ones...

Now, I'd compare them to pirrahna, but they just tend to go for wounded or flailin' stuff, and then only if they're really hungry. They jus' got a bad rep. But imagine a march of a hundred-thousand army ants, unconstrained by gravity, movin' as fast as the sea will take them. You know those beautiful schools of fish you'll see in the tropics on discovery channel, swimmin' around the divers? Imagine one 'a those, but bigger, and it wants to eat you if you so much as get in its way.

And they're ants, so don't think they're limited to jus' one area, no. Buggers are everywhere. If you're lucky, you spot a hive before it spots you and you stear well clear. If you ain't you stop by some coral to grab a bite and you end up on the menu yourself.

I don't know about you, sir, but a world with sea ants ain't one I want to live in.

So now that we've got the basics down, should we start talking about history and mythology and stuff like that?

>>23943054

Seems wise. Also, does anyone have a solid summary written up? I'm late to the game and wouldn't like to miss all the tasty details.

Also, minor summary for Seants?

>>23943295
>Also, minor summary for Seants?

Not for me, but at the end. I'm aware of their badness!

>>23943295
Sea ants are large, shrimp/ant like creatures with many terrifying attributes. Most of these stem from their ability to create cavitation bubbles in any fluid. This allows them to dig through and build with any material they want. They have a caste system similar to that of termites or ants, and can easily implant themselves into any ecosystem due to their incredible durability

>>23943455
Also they can make sonic booms hotter than the sun

>>23943455
Sea ants? More like SUE ants, am I right?

>>23943495
Well the ashbai have held them back, so they can't be THAT powerful
Just horrifying to anyone who's never seen them before

>>23943510

They're a pest. Like goblins.

>>23943530
with star-sonic weaponry

>>23943510
That's the reason they pose a threat;
Once you understand them, it's not too hard to deal with them. But they are masters of blitzkrieg and can wipe you out before you even know it

Alright. So, what traits are we working on. Background? Mythology?

We already had that "Song of the Stars" thing going on.

>>23943579
The ice caps are forbidden zones, due to giant cosmic monsters trapped inside of them
Scary stuff

>>23943579
Good/Order and Evil/Chaos are called "Harmony" and "Discord" in their language/are synonymous with it.
There are two two main spiritual factions; one who believes that Harmony comes from the Creator and by knowing it one can become harmonious themselves, the other that Harmony is something you must find for yourself through study since it's inherent to the Cosmos.

Interestingly enough, BOTH factions are rather interested in space travel although the Church of the Radiant One has fewer good scientists.

Guys, radio waves can't travel through water.

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>>23942999

Jesus Christ, how horrifying...

>>23944048
It doesn't have to be water

>>23941435
because it's not evolutionarily viable, too much data to hold easily

>>23944148
Did anyone archive this so we can like, come back to it later?

I want to do more with this.

>>23944048

What if they travel on land so that they can experince the radio waves? LIke every so often they get close enough to the surface and they're like "We need to get on land now so we can experince this.

Could be a reason why they pushed to create mecha conch shells so they can move around easier out of water.

>>23944899
Or stick their radio limbs out of the water.

>>23944927

Perhaps that's part of their religious ceremonies. They detect or predict when certain astrological events will take place and congregate to the surface of the water for some ritual where they get their fill of color.

Of course this would be dangerous with sea ants[/spoilers] about since they may have to travel far and wide to get the full experience

Hence facilitating a special group to protect clergy and pilgrims on their travels.

>>23945036

damn..messed up my syntax...

>>23944048
It also makes no sense to "hear" them, because sound is longitudinal pressure waves whereas radio waves are transverse electromagnetic waves.

But... I wasn't going to bother.

>>23945392

Points invested into hearing should have expanded the frequencies available, similar to what sight points did.

>>23945433
That...is not how expanding the frequency range works.

Sound waves are longitudinal pressure waves in the air.
Electromagnetic waves are transeverse electromagnetic waves, they are particles themselves, whereas a sound wave is the movement of the particles that makes up the transmission medium.
This is why there is no sound in space, there is an insufficient particle density, but electromagnetic waves are fine as they are particles moving through space.
Increasing the frequency range would not enable you to hear radio waves.
Being able to detect electromagnetic radiation in the radio band would.

>>23945992
i think this all stemmed from a false understanding of radio waves.
people think of radios as transmitting sound, therefore they associate it with sound waves. how about instead of hearing radio waves, they just have really good hearing and see unusual frequencies of light, like radio waves and x-rays

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from what i read in the thread this is what they look like, correct?
or is there something i should change?

>>23946322

I was under the impression that both arm like appendages were set sideways on it's body but who am I to argue against it.

>>23946433
i was just going by the first post about their symmetry

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>>23946322
Beginning to remind me vaguely of the Great Old Ones.