Godhood XIV - Usurper [Honey Edition Turn 3]

Kahtrak pulls a delicately sculpted metal figurine from some hole in space, still glowing from the forge. It is some form of bird, with brilliant brass feathers, cruel onyx eyes and a beak of ivory. The skin, as visible on the creature's vicious talons, is darker and oilier. Otherwise, it appears to be modelled on a crow, but with a large, ruffly collar made of longer white gold feathers at the neck.

It blinks confusedly. Apparently, it is not a statue, but instead just an incredibly shiny avian. Kahtrak tosses it with great force through the upper atmosphere of Seriba. The bird falls apart into an entire flock of the same avians as it approaches the surface, and they fly off towards the coast in an angry, noisy jumble.

These creatures are flock-hunting raptors. Unusual, I know. But the only reason raptors can't flock is because they lose the element of surprise. Well, that and the fact that they're high-metabolism apex predators. But I have solutions for both of those problems.

They migrate constantly, up and down the coast, so they don't have to worry about depleting their food source, the wolperams and the alternate marmots that live in that grass I modified. And they're not ambush hunters, that's what I think you'll like about them. They're arson hunters.

Most of the time, it would be hard for a bird of prey to hunt anything in the sebright, between the noise and the distracting shine. However, over time dead matter will build up in the fields, either because of seasonal dieoff or because of overgrazing. And it's these patches that they seek out. They use their flinty talons to set the ground litter ablaze, drive all the herbivores into the open (out to sea, ideally), and feast while they can. A massive flock of ill omens, exploiting it's own natural disasters.

The raptors are highly intelligent, and mentor their young on the many complex behaviours required for their lifestyle, including kindling techniques, when and where to set a blaze to best corral the prey, and how to survive close, constant contact with the fire itself. Their temperament is best described as opportunistic, cautious and irascible.

They weigh slightly more than a wolperam, but are noticeably larger because of their light physical construction. Their mode of attack is catlike, latching onto an opponent's back with their razor-sharp talons and opening as many shallow bleeding wounds as possible until it stops struggling. The beak is inelegant, and used only in eating.

They are flock animals, but they pair up and leave the flock temporarily when raising young. This must be done inland, high in the mountains, because the chicks require a environment free of flammable materials. This leaves the family unit vulnerable to boledroms, which can catch uncautious birds using their long, stick tongues. They avoid travelling inland the rest of the time for this reason, but attempt more mundane hunting methods when they do, for fear of suffocating the prey in their burrows.

1 act for a small, metallic-coloured flying species.
...1 act for firestarting flint patches on their talons.
...1 act for basic intelligence.


And everyone wins, biologically. The grass is fertilized by fire, and only the vermin populations that are getting too large will provide sufficient dead matter, most of the time.

But what do you want to call them?

"WOW AWESOME. ALSO SHINY AND SUPER INEFFICIENT I MEAN SERIOUSLY WHY NOT JUST GO FOR THE JUGULAR BUT HEY THIS CRITICISM IS COMING FROM A DUDE WHO MADE A GIANT METAPHYSICAL BAR." Bacardi clapped his many hands together. The resulting noise turning into a magnificent head-inducing din.

"IF I WERE TO BE THE ONE WHO IS GOING TO NAME THEM, WHICH I CANNOT. I WILL NAME THEM THE STYMPHALIANS - APPROPRIATE FOR A SMALL CREATURE THAT KILLS ITS PREY BY A DEATH OF A MILLION CUTS."

I love them! Let's see... Kopveren. That sounds nice.

Suki named the birds Kopveren

"HA AHAHAHA GOOD ONE. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU JUST RAN A WORD THROUGH A LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR AND JUST SLAPPED IT ON."

"OR YOU JUST SMASHED A BUNCH OF LETTERS INTO THE HADRON COLLIDER AND PARSED A WORD?"

"MAN I AM SO CONFUSING MYSELF. I'M GOING TO GO AND CHILL FOR A WHILE ON THE UNIVERSAL SOFA. HAVE FUN WITH YOUR WEIRD INEFFICIENT-AS-BALLS CREATURES WHICH ARE ESSENTIALLY KNIFE-BIRDS THAT STAB PREY TO DEATH AND MAKE FIRE BY SHITTING SPARKS EVERYWHERE."

I'm not sure you're seeing the same creature I am, but I want to make that one too now.

"Oh, um. Your Woleperams. I wanted to borrow a small few, change them into a creature of my own devising...

Nothing big. Or dangerous. I think it'd take a few... acts, so I'm sure Kahtrak or y-. I'm sure Kahtrak can guide me to make a compatible creature."

'sfine, 'slongas you don' take all th'bunnies.

and make sure to balance the food... food specturm *clank* specruturm *clank* the food... pyramid thingy.

"Thank you."

Nash-Marr finds a mountainous dozen or so with paler fur, sets them down on one of the craggier parts of the Scar, and gets to work. He loses a few to rather grotesque distortions of anatomy, but manages to produce a scant eight creatures that suit whatever aesthetic he's going for.

The new creatures stand as big as an elk, still sporting their ancestral horns and (now-drooping) ears. The creature seems built to cover most any ground, with three blunt, flat-faced claws it can use on rough terrain or switch forward, to act more like a conventional gripping/wedging toe.

The face is still rabbit-like - the teeth, still suited to vegetation - Nash-Marr feels a need to change it but decides to consider it at a later date. For now, he just wants them to survive until he can work on them further.

He slows the metabolism of his charges down, letting them live an unhurried existence with an extended lifespan (and significantly slowing down their rate of reproduction, also). Wary of the tiny population's predator, the Boledroms, Nash-Marr gives the beasts a particular alertness to their surroundings, and the mental faculties to process what they see.

Physiologically, Nash-Marr's first animals deviate little from their ancestral stock. They breed like (large, very slow) mammals, and their mental faculties are hopefully sufficient for the eight to recognise each other and stick together.

The expenditure of so many acts on such a tiny little thing is scary for the godling, but this is important to him for his own special reasons.

"Please do not name them yet," Nash-Marr asks of the other gods. "They're not yet complete."

1 act to change the shape of eight Woleperams into Medium creatures
1 further act to modify/adapt them to better-navigate the Scar's terrain
1 act to give them basic intelligence
1 act to compel them to be alert to changes in their surroundings
1 act to expand their lifespan

So you did want advice, right?

Improved senses, that's a very, very strong improvement for any creature, often underestimated. Though you usually get more bang for your buck focusing on one sense. The third or fourth improved senses tend to be rather redundant.

Since you're making a larger version of a smaller creature, they might have some trouble telling their young from the Wolperams, so maybe check that there's some physiological difference there. The horns might not grow in until sexual maturity. Or alternatively, just watch them develop occasional maternal impulses for the most populous species on the planet, could be good for a laugh.

Okay, so we've got a largish creature with good senses, strong overland movement, jumping and probably climbing. They'd do very well in a forested environment. If you're going to leave them as herbivores, they could be treetop grazers or, if omnivorous, fruit foragers. I know that there aren't any trees yet, but I was actually just about to start on that, the sentients are going to need them anyway.

And you're inexperienced, so I'm going to ask, do you know how to speciate a modified organism properly? Assuming you want to, of course.

Craft wanders off to the Atrium, which has been left mostly neglected this turn. He doesn't quite arrive where he planned on the ring, but that's fine because, you know, it's a ring and he started somewhere on it.

There's... there's too many flying things without... landy predators. We need more fying *clack* flyig *clack* floatee win-ged predators, for the good of the food specturn.

Craft leans in. There is a brief flash of light, and a tiny little sneeze.

"T'shoo!"

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The Lygiswyrms who flew around Bacardi's ascent were always a relaxed lot. Relatively content with life, they rarely had to worry too much about the salamandraes this high up, and the sylphids were relatively few and far between. Life was pretty good, and the air was filled with music.

"T'shoo!"

And sneezing, apparently.

One plump lygiswyrm looked up, to see a small creature.

The creature had a shell, from which 6 flippers and a head protruded. it had green skin, with pitch-black eyes, and it seemed to be flying.

The wyrm looked over it with curiosity. The strange creature sneezed again.

Oh, wait.

There were two of the little terrapins, now. "T'shoo!" No, three. "T'shoo!" Four?

The wyrm was in the middle of a building flock. With every sneeze, the small creatures flocked.

Well, as long as the wyrm had an audience...

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One sylphid, flying nearby, turned to look at a strange sight.

One of the noisy things was singing to a flock of new round things. The sylphid really didn't have the mental capacity to see much into that, and it wasn't that hungry, so it just turned away and kept flying.

Until the music was suddenly cut off, then replaced with a short screech before going terribly silent.

The bird looked back. The round things had converged on the noisy thing, which couldn't be seen through the mass of round things. The bird was just smart enough to reckon that the round things were eating the noisy thing, and that if they weren't full afterwards it was time to fly away really, really fast.

As it moved to turn, the round things split up again.

The sylphid couldn't see the noisy thing at all. All it could see were lots of little green things, looking at it, with just a trace of a smile.

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A'Chooins have been introduced to the Atrium! They are small, green, six-winged flying turtles, named after the noise they make to summon their flock. They hunt down Lygiswyrms and Sylphids.(1 act)
+1 act for an aversion to the ground, to prevent them from eating the landy creatures. As a result, they tend to live out over the river-ring, allowing them to drink without getting to close to solid ground.
+1 act for their eggs to be filled with lightweight gases, allowing them to float and be herded.
Total Expenditure: 3 acts
Craft has zero acts remaining this turn.

Kahtrak yells across the interplanetary divide, an unusually boisterous gesture.

Thanks, Craft! I really wasn't looking forward to fixing that ecosystem.

And if the rest of you want advice, try adding some egg-eaters once those a'chooins reach a big population. If enough of the eggs get their gas released before hatching, maybe you could give the skyworms some new food and make the whole ecosystem less of an ant farm. And egg-eaters make decent mortals, too.

"YO, KAHTRAK. FIRST OFF, I CAN HEAR YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE YELLING VERY LOUD. SECOND OF ALL, WHY ARE YOU YELLING WHEN YOU CAN USE THE OMNIPOTENCE THAT TENDS TO BE TREND TO TELEPORT HERE OR WHATEVER. YOU ARE A LAZY BUTTMUNCH. THIRDLY, YOUR ASS MAY BE INCREDIBLY SEXY YOUR CRITICISM IS VERY UNPRECEDENTED "

Bacardi yelled back.

"ESPECIALLY FROM A PERSON WHO CLAIMS TO STRIVE FOR EFFICIENCY YET HE STILL MADE KNIFE-BIRDS WHICH CAN ONLY KILL BY SLOW BURNING AND STABBING WITH A MILLION POINTY ENDS AND A BUNCH OF VANILLA-AS-BALLS TOADS WHICH ARE INCREDIBLY BORING AND UNINTERESTING. AH HA HAHAH AHAHA SO MUCH FOR PERFECTIONISM.

FOURTHLY, WOULD YOU KINDLY LAY OFF THE ADVICE FOR 'OOOOOOOH HERE IS MY SUGGESTIONS ON MAKING A ORGANISM HUR HUR HUR THAT WOULD INCREASE MAXIMUM POTENTIAL EFFICIENCY.' JESUS GOD CHRIST YOU ARE LIKE ONE OF THOSE ANNOYING PLOT FAIRIES IN THOSE VIDEO GAMES. LOOK I KNOW YOU ARE A SOCIAL DARWINISTIC GOD OF PREDATORS OR WHATEVER BUT YOU COULD BE A BIT LESS CONDESCENDING AND PUT A STOPPER ON YOUR ECOLOGICAL SPIELS. OR MAYBE YOU COULD BE A TRENDY PERFECTIONIST AND MAKE THE GODDAMN IMPROVEMENTS AND CREATIONS YOURSELF.

GOD."

That's fair. Just a second.

Kahtrak hastily scatters a new plant near the location of the fledgling enlarged wolperam species. The crowntree is a mountain-growing tree with a very unusual habit. Every mature branch curves upward along its length until it is pointing directly upwards, and is sharp-tipped. This is an adaptation to defend it from the "predation" of particularly stupid boledroms. Crowntrees bear numerous, tulip-shaped, purple or blue flowers for part of the year, which each grow into a small, sour fruit if pollinated. They are favoured by harsh winds and high moisture, so they are often found in small, isolated pockets in ideal mountainside locations, but sometimes form larger groups in valleys.

His obligations fulfilled, the god of improvement poofs off to the Atrium.

The knifebirds are inefficient, it's true. That was by design. Already my creations were causing too many problems. An inefficient creature was just what was needed to stabilize, to try and perfect, that ecosystem. This is much the same reason that I was adverse to coming here. I would prefer to focus on getting all the problems worked out of one world than start trying to add to another.

Oh and also they're not knifebirds and they're not mine. They're kopveren and they belong to Suki.

Kahtrak seems unsure of his footing on this strange new quasi-world.

I guess this place isn't so bad.

But what would fit best here?


1 act for crowntrees on Seriba's scar.