The Cynos

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Impaler
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The Cynos

#1 Post by Impaler »

The Cynos are a race of mobile plant creatures that are themselves part of a larger mother plant upon which they depend. This relationship is the defining element of their life cycle and society.

The Cynos come from the planet Clyron. Clyron orbits a yellow/white star and is slightly smaller then Earth and possess a similar atmosphere with the exception of high quantities of ozone at ground level due to high ultraviolet light. This high ultraviolet light makes photosynthisis extreamly efficient on Clyron. The small iron core reduces the planets gravity and causes a weak magnetic feild. The planets temperature is sligtly warmer then Earths tropical zones but rainfall is higher. Half of Clyron's surface is covered in very deep oceans. The land areas of the planet are coverd in huge forest canopies that grow to incredible hights under low gravity. The forest is inhabited by millions of types of flying crab like insects along with agressive plant species and climbing animals. The forest floor is covered with scavengers. The Cyno's have become the dominant species on the planet having achived tecnological sofistication a considerable time ago, they are just now begining to make offworld journies.

The individual Cyno is a bit of a misnomer. The individuals are realy part of a larger mother plant. This mother plant resembles an aloe/agava plant with the notible exception of being 300 feet high. Its huge frons can reach hundreds of feet in length and be 10 feet thick, 60 feet wide and are a bluish aquamarine color as are all plants on Clyron. The frons radiate from a Central Bulb 100 feet high and 50 feet in diamiter that forms the core of the plant. The extensive root system is rather shallow and dauter plants will sprout from the roots to grow adjasent to the central plant. A single plant can live near 5000 years with dauter plants granting practical imortality. Each Fron is covered with 3 foot long spikes that serve to protect the plant from insects and to give the Cyno's something to climb on. Their are also numerous "brood chambers" inside the frons, each chanber is accessed through a 1 metter slit in the plant that is surrounded by sensitive purple smell sensors that admit only the correct Cyno's. It is with in these brood chambers that the Cyno's are "born" and regenerate.

An individual Cyno starts as a small bub inside the brood chamber and over the corse of several days grows into a full sized individual and detaches inself, the point of detachment becomes the feeding slit later in life. A Cyno is 3.5 metters long, the core body is a flatened rectangual mass 1.5 metters on a long side and .75 metters on a short side. At each corner their sprouts a 1 metter long tapering vine like limb running parrell to the long sides axis of the body. They terminate in a sharp thorny spearlike point that they use to Impale their oponents. The limb is coverd with a tough black jointed bark like skin near the ends which gradualy lessense to a smooth waxy hard surface that covers the rest of the organisms body. The waxy smooth areas are a paler form of the aquamarine that covers the mother plant and provides some photosysnthisis, though not enough to sustain the individual. On one side of the rectangualr body is located the feeding slit and on the other their is a row of 3 large circular grey eyes covered by bulbous 3 way eye lids. Each eye is sensitive a a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. They can also pick up and generate high frequency ultra sonic sounds in their limbs. Sight and sound are their main senses.

The anotomy of a Cyno is very simple. They lack a digestive or respiratory system insted they hold a gelatinus solution of nutrients inside a cavity filling most of the central body area, the feeding slit directly access this area. An extention of the cavity runs down each limb and delivers the nutrients to the muscle tissues theie. The system is one way, the muscle tissue stores all of its waste products. The Nervous system is a flatened grouping of cells just below the surface of the eye side of the body. A Cyno is capable of aproimatly 30 hours of independent activity before its nutirent supplies are exhosted. An individual so exhosted can easily be identified by its sore swolen limbs. They must return to their mother plant or one of its dauters and enter an empty brood chamber, once inside the one way nutrient system goes into reverse and disgorges its waste products. These are taken up by the mother plant for recycling, then a new batch of nutrients fills the brood chamber and is taken in by the Cyno. Any physical damage is healed, even a Cyno torn in half can be regenerated given enough time, 40 hours is sufficient for a typical recharge meaning that at anyone time more then half of a group of Cyno's will be regenerating. An individual Cyno can live as long as its host Plant but many are ofcorse get destroyed earlier.

Cynos are highly coperative and altruistic in their protection of the motherplant. They are moderatly inteligent and over their considerable life times they can learn the use of their modern tecnology and transmit this knowlage to new Cynos. Reproduction is conducted once a year, each mother plant will cause a few of its regenerating Cynos to grow to almost double normal size and will implants a seed inside of it. These Cyno then go out and seek other plants and are admitted into their brood chambers only at this special time. Inside the seeds are fertalized and the Cyno grows even larger. Once it emerges it begins its final journy which can take it nearly a hundred miles non stop. Once it finds a sutable location it burrows into the ground and dies to plant the critical seed. The Cyno's emerging from these new plants are thus ignorant of the modern tecnologies of of the species, they slowly aquire these skills by comunication with groups from other plants.

Cynos have a Consensus goverment as the mother plants comunicate on a chemical level globaly and avoid stressing each other so as not to provoke competition over limited resorces that could weaken thouse involved. The mother plants then chemicaly influence the moods and behaviors of their subordinate Cynos. The individual Cynos though are the only elements to have any kind of cognition, the mother plants are mindless.

Racial Advantages/Disdvantages

Because of the huge size of Mother Plants all Cyno spaceships are by nessesity very large, anyship toosmall to house an entire mature mother plant must be either remotely controled or be piloted by individual Cyno's that return to larger ships on a regual basis.

Cyno's produce little if any polution as it would so directly harm them and others of their kind.

Newly colonized planets will contain young uneducated groups of Cynos and will recive penalties for research, in general Cyno reserch is poor.

Cyno's are excelent Defencive soldiars but have low endurace and are poor attackers. They are also more suseptable to bombardment because of imobility.

Cyno's are tolerant of a wide variety of planetary conditions and have a high growth rate and high population capacity.

Cyno's are expantionist yet peacefull, their tecnology focuses on terraforming, long range ships and planetary defences.

Additional sugjestions welcome :D

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utilae
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#2 Post by utilae »

Obviously they can't have smaller ships until robot pilots are researched. Or a tech such as enhanced chemicaL transmission ( chemical transmissions would control organic ship controls remotely).

Also Cynos, sounds alot like that robot race from Moo3 to me.

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skdiw
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#3 Post by skdiw »

Nothing wrong with stock races. I was wondering if people is going to import race from other game into this forum. or is this cool ideas only.

Impaler
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#4 Post by Impaler »

No direct importing or cpying is permited. Thats not to say you cant be inspired by works of fiction or make a race that has similar atributes to a race of creature featured in some other game. We already have a few insect like races that remind me of the Klackons and a quite a number of smart scientist aliens but all of them were created originaly. Check out the Race Creation Guide thread for some good guidelines.
Fear is the Mind Killer - Frank Herbert -Dune

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eleazar
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#5 Post by eleazar »

Interesting idea, but some areas need development:

How did they discover/make technology without something like hands to manipulate the environment? It sounds like they simply have a single spike on the end of each limb.
The mother plants then chemicaly influence the moods and behaviors of their subordinate Cynos. The individual Cynos though are the only elements to have any kind of cognition, the mother plants are mindless.
This statement could use some explanation. How, why, and to what purpose does the mother "the moods and behaviors of their subordinate Cynos" if only the subordinate Cynos can think?

And how do they communicate?

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