Re: The Glorious Championship! [S3G5] [Round Two: The Kestalvian Rainforest]
08-17-2011, 12:45 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by veerserif.
The most obvious and well-known of these loops centers on the humble Paradox Grass [1]. Growing on rare patches of stable time (at least, rare in the Kestalvian forests), the paradox grass is the main foodstuff for many creatures, among them the Moebius Finch [2]. These finches are the preferred prey of the Krahallan Springjumper. These springjumpers have in turn been domesticated by an anarcho-communistic society of Turnwise Spiders, who farm the springjumpers for their time-energy rich leg tendons. These tendons are bought by a theocratic regime of Bullethead Tree Squids, an offshoot of a larger group. These tendons are used to bundle up other time-energy heavy products. As far as our researchers can tell, these are left in front of a large local landmark, such as huge hollowed trees or mountain caves. This is the Kestalvian equivalent of "taking out the trash". What happens after is as yet unknown, though our intrepid researchers were often directed back to meadows of Paradox Grass. Presumably, the grass will one day grow back over these energy dumps...
[1] These grasses tend to thrive in those time-stable environments that larger Kestalvian flora find inhospitable. Consequently, they make popular campgrounds.
[2] So named for their twisted wings, and their unnerving ability to end up on the other side of every containment unit ever made to trap them. The pet industry still holds hope for a Moebius-proof cage.
--------
It stirred.
All around the inside of its mountain home were bundles. Shells glinted faintly in the dim light that forced its way inside through the cracks and pinholes in the mountainside. Ancient packages decomposed quietly in the back, while newer offerings piled up in front. Some of the softer ones had been appropriated to form a pillow-like pile in the middle of the cave.
A disdainful yellow eye opened, the other six remaining firmly closed. Strange. It felt brighter than it should be.
The creature shifted slightly, disturbing the not-quite-there threads of time that clung firmly to its back like fur. Nothing else felt really out of place. Besides, the annoying spiked bundle it'd received two or three collections back had never happened in the first place. It had made sure of that next time it woke. In any case, the beast was not concerned with what might happen, not when it slept under a coat woven from a thousand thousand possibilities. Everything was bound to happen eventually.
One of the cracks widened, dislodging a clump of dirt. It fell on one of the bigger piles in the back with a thud. The beast opened a second eye.
--------
"Probably a trap," agreed Gabe. "But after all, she does have the machete." Not to mention the monkey with my eighty dollar jacket, he thought.
"Yes, and you have an arm that can turn into a chainsaw." Her cat hissed at the prospect of encountering its primate pesterer again. She kicked at the dead grass, scuffing her boots on the chalky ground. "Don't tell me that's why you're going to go after them."
Etiyr chimed in. "How about we simply go far, far away from the monkey with the bad fashion sense? Let Bethany chase the damn thing, if that's what she wants."
--------
In another part of the Rainforest:
"There's nothing here, either. Well, nothing above normal levels anyway."
Junior Researcher Ix "Ixxy" Zeman put the chronometer away. His partner, Sydra, snorted. "Of course there's nothing. Not even sure there was a time spike in the first place. Boss probably just wants the camp to herself, bit of peace and quiet. Can't say I blame her. You cling to her like a burr."
Ix blushed. "I'm trying to learn."
"By hanging onto her every word? Doubt it. Better to go out and observe stuff, you'll learn faster that way." Sydra took the navigator out, cursing the lack of reception. "Next sector, c'mon."
Ix walked behind Sydra. The rainforest could be intimidating and claustrophobic, true, but on a good day it was a riotous display of colour and sound as populations ate, fought, bartered, negotiated and died. The rainforest was never still for very long.
The day was shaping up to be a very good one. It was certainly quite noisy. Ix tapped Sydra's shoulder. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"Sounds like... a saw?"
Before Sydra could reply, a massive gnarled tree began a slow-motion tumble to the forest floor, going from upright to horizontal in a slow, dignified, gravity-defying sweep. Ix looked horrified; Sydra was intrigued. A ball of spinning shrapnel emerged from over the fallen tree. Sawdust and leaf fragments spun through the air as errant branches and leaves were efficiently pulverized by the lethal blur.
"Hello!" The ball must have a speaker of some sort, then. "I hope I did not startle you. It was certainly not my intention!"
Sydra stood rooted to the spot, while Ix began to back away.
"I was simply wondering if you could assist a query of mine." Sydra nodded, slowly. "Good! What is a 'scone'?"
Sydra patted his pockets, slowly. "Ix. Got leftover breakfast?" His forked tongue flickered back and forth in agitation.
"Dunno," hissed Ix, eyes still on AMP. "Do you think it'll be fooled by a mushed-up nutribar?"
Excerpt from "Flora and Fauna of the Kestalvian Rainforest, Vol. IX, 2nd Edition." by A. Musgrove. Published by Vindiciae Books Ltd.
...the presence of chronobiotic lifeforms in the forests of Kestalvia is unsurprising, given the proximity of its orbit to its singularly unique star. Therefore, the creatures of the Kestalvian Rainforest have developed ingenious ways to vent this excessive time-energy, lest they be flung around chaotically in the timestream. Paradoxically, most forms of flora on Kestalvia rely heavily on time-energy in much the same way Earth plants rely on sunlight, creating a self-perpertuating loop in the jungles which is likely responsible for the rapid rate of change and development observable in its inhabitants.The most obvious and well-known of these loops centers on the humble Paradox Grass [1]. Growing on rare patches of stable time (at least, rare in the Kestalvian forests), the paradox grass is the main foodstuff for many creatures, among them the Moebius Finch [2]. These finches are the preferred prey of the Krahallan Springjumper. These springjumpers have in turn been domesticated by an anarcho-communistic society of Turnwise Spiders, who farm the springjumpers for their time-energy rich leg tendons. These tendons are bought by a theocratic regime of Bullethead Tree Squids, an offshoot of a larger group. These tendons are used to bundle up other time-energy heavy products. As far as our researchers can tell, these are left in front of a large local landmark, such as huge hollowed trees or mountain caves. This is the Kestalvian equivalent of "taking out the trash". What happens after is as yet unknown, though our intrepid researchers were often directed back to meadows of Paradox Grass. Presumably, the grass will one day grow back over these energy dumps...
[1] These grasses tend to thrive in those time-stable environments that larger Kestalvian flora find inhospitable. Consequently, they make popular campgrounds.
[2] So named for their twisted wings, and their unnerving ability to end up on the other side of every containment unit ever made to trap them. The pet industry still holds hope for a Moebius-proof cage.
--------
It stirred.
All around the inside of its mountain home were bundles. Shells glinted faintly in the dim light that forced its way inside through the cracks and pinholes in the mountainside. Ancient packages decomposed quietly in the back, while newer offerings piled up in front. Some of the softer ones had been appropriated to form a pillow-like pile in the middle of the cave.
A disdainful yellow eye opened, the other six remaining firmly closed. Strange. It felt brighter than it should be.
The creature shifted slightly, disturbing the not-quite-there threads of time that clung firmly to its back like fur. Nothing else felt really out of place. Besides, the annoying spiked bundle it'd received two or three collections back had never happened in the first place. It had made sure of that next time it woke. In any case, the beast was not concerned with what might happen, not when it slept under a coat woven from a thousand thousand possibilities. Everything was bound to happen eventually.
One of the cracks widened, dislodging a clump of dirt. It fell on one of the bigger piles in the back with a thud. The beast opened a second eye.
--------
"Probably a trap," agreed Gabe. "But after all, she does have the machete." Not to mention the monkey with my eighty dollar jacket, he thought.
"Yes, and you have an arm that can turn into a chainsaw." Her cat hissed at the prospect of encountering its primate pesterer again. She kicked at the dead grass, scuffing her boots on the chalky ground. "Don't tell me that's why you're going to go after them."
Etiyr chimed in. "How about we simply go far, far away from the monkey with the bad fashion sense? Let Bethany chase the damn thing, if that's what she wants."
--------
In another part of the Rainforest:
"There's nothing here, either. Well, nothing above normal levels anyway."
Junior Researcher Ix "Ixxy" Zeman put the chronometer away. His partner, Sydra, snorted. "Of course there's nothing. Not even sure there was a time spike in the first place. Boss probably just wants the camp to herself, bit of peace and quiet. Can't say I blame her. You cling to her like a burr."
Ix blushed. "I'm trying to learn."
"By hanging onto her every word? Doubt it. Better to go out and observe stuff, you'll learn faster that way." Sydra took the navigator out, cursing the lack of reception. "Next sector, c'mon."
Ix walked behind Sydra. The rainforest could be intimidating and claustrophobic, true, but on a good day it was a riotous display of colour and sound as populations ate, fought, bartered, negotiated and died. The rainforest was never still for very long.
The day was shaping up to be a very good one. It was certainly quite noisy. Ix tapped Sydra's shoulder. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
"Sounds like... a saw?"
Before Sydra could reply, a massive gnarled tree began a slow-motion tumble to the forest floor, going from upright to horizontal in a slow, dignified, gravity-defying sweep. Ix looked horrified; Sydra was intrigued. A ball of spinning shrapnel emerged from over the fallen tree. Sawdust and leaf fragments spun through the air as errant branches and leaves were efficiently pulverized by the lethal blur.
"Hello!" The ball must have a speaker of some sort, then. "I hope I did not startle you. It was certainly not my intention!"
Sydra stood rooted to the spot, while Ix began to back away.
"I was simply wondering if you could assist a query of mine." Sydra nodded, slowly. "Good! What is a 'scone'?"
Sydra patted his pockets, slowly. "Ix. Got leftover breakfast?" His forked tongue flickered back and forth in agitation.
"Dunno," hissed Ix, eyes still on AMP. "Do you think it'll be fooled by a mushed-up nutribar?"
Spoiler