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Is it possible to create a variant race of an already existing one?


As far as I am aware, it is possible indeed, and we even have a precedent. Though I would recommend discussing it with the original species' player beforehand.
Recovering from his impact against the wall, Old N briefly shook his body by rattling his libs against the nearest surfaces he could reach, causing the floor underneath him to creak in an alarming fashion. Truth be told, he only needed to shake his head, but not having a neck rendered that sort of acrobatics necessary for even the simplest things these carapace-less gnats took for granted. Speaking of carapace-less gnats... Having mostly regained his bearings, the demon observed that the rest of the group was either rushing or being ushered out of the vehicle, presumably to confront whatever it was that had struck it in the side and caused it to stop. Or was it the other way around? Did it make sense at all? Probably not, but that was only an unnecessary load upon his attention, and rapidly slid off from its slippery surface. He contemplated whether he should crawl outside himself. He could remain still there, and sleep through the resolution of the problem; however, considering just how capable the others were, there would likely be no resolution, and his slumber would eventually be interrupted by some marauder or the other. Thus, there was little alternative to venturing forth once again.

The way out was just as laborious as the way in ad been, but at least this time he had to clamber down, not up, at the vehicle's entrance. Only once he had issued from the corridors did it occur to Old N just how more free the outside was. Here, he was not cramped amid narrow walls, not at risk to be trapped in a doorway... All of which was very well, but he did not care much for movement. Now that he thought of it, the interior of the vehicle had probably been better. Still, stretching his pincers would not do him any bad. The demon cast an uninterested glance at what seemed to be a new arrival, as well as the body which had struck against the vehicle, and, not finding her any more interesting than the other lizard demon, focused once again on his pincers. Still painfully broken and unusable, but- Wait, did he have a...? Of course! Having rapidly searched his sack, Old N produced from it two cylindrical red tubers, a few odd-smelling purple berries and a single blue mushroom, and proceeded to munch them into an unpleasant-looking paste which he applied, by the means of his mandibles, to his mutilated appendages. For good measure, he spat out some leftover Magic Mixture which he had somehow still not swallowed. If those were what he believed them to be, the healing process should have proceeded a great deal faster, perhaps with some interesting side effects. Satisfied with the result, the demon shambled towards the rest of the group. Maybe some of them had some idea of what they were supposed to do. Then again, the longer they spent figuring it out, the better.
Light, noise, dust, clamouring throngs. Ulor had never been fond of large, bustling settlements as this one. In truth, he had not been fond of smaller ones, either, and most certainly was not now, but for vast cities he reserved a more intense distaste than he bore for any other collection of inhabited buildings. That they should exist at all did not concern him in the slightest; however, the fact that passing through them seemed to be a constant necessity was positively aggravating. Yet this was not, after all, the worst part of what his quest had brought him into. Cities could, perhaps, not be avoided, but they only had to spend a few days at a time in any of them. No, what placed an even greater strain upon his patience was the necessity of having an entire band travel alongside them, especially that vile green imp who, it seemed, was determined to visit the affliction that was her voice upon anything and everything in the environs. Pleasant as it would have been to clobber her into silence, though, he could not deny that it would have been unwise to diminish this makeshift cohort they had stumbled upon, especially considering what had transpired in Fellmire.

As he went through his morning rituals after a brief night of dim, inchoate visions, Ulor's thoughts returned to the decaying town and the dreams which had guided them there. The voices of sleep had directed them to that place, yet, at the time they had spoken of it, the creature that had cast its curious spell - it would have been worth investigating further, had there been time - over it had been no more remarkable than any other sea hag. For days, the rationale behind the voices' actions had eluded him, until, finally, he had understood. They had known that only if Ulor and the familiar entity, and presumably the others, would have reached the town, the hag would have called upon its shadowy and hidden ally, and that force would have acted in such a manner as to reveal itself. That was an inevitability, and it had to be so. It followed that this being was something the voices knew to be conducive to finding the secret. That was the sense of things, and what would happen would happen.

Squinting as he issued from the inn and into the daylight, Ulor clutched his staff in irritation as the din of the city grew louder about him. The people were clouds of dust, swirling chaotically along the street, brushing and mingling with each other, the sonorous wind blowing through them. There was a celebration of some sort, he had heard. Ululations of inane breezes in mouths of sand. He blinked a few times, his eyes growing accustomed to the luminosity, and exchanged a glance with the familiar, which was perched upon, or rather wrapped around, his shoulder. The creature residing in the form of a pale, almost spectre-like octopus responded with the hollow gaze of its vitreous orbs and a slight undulation of its bloated body. The voices had been silent for some time, and it had nothing to say. For now, at least.

As he moved to follow the rest of the party to their next destination - a temporal ruler of some sort, yet again distasteful, but necessary if he was to make any progress - his attention was drawn by the loud and rather wild words of a nearby dragonborn, whose speech verged on oddly familiar subjects. An "end of the world" was nothing new; but this one seemed to know something of the being they were seeking. How or why was circumstantial; what Ulor found most intriguing was what was the truth behind his words, and whither it could lead. This was an occasion not to be disregarded. Eager to gaze through the dragonborn's thoughts with the eye of living dreams, he began to reach for his orb of incantation, but then stopped short. No, this would not do; the wisdom he wielded was not one to be invoked in the glare of day, amidst the storm of vacuity. Another approach would have rendered itself necessary - and see, the vociferous sprite had approached the speaker, and was whispering something to him. It might have been she were rendering herself useful for once. Not enough to offset her tiresome nature, but it was something to begin with. Nonetheless, it would have been better to ensure she performed adequately.

Evoking the mouth of distorted thoughts, Ulor reached out for the tiefling's mind and spoke within it, the swirling patterns of his psychic touch manifesting to her as his usual whispering voice:

"We require the knowledge he holds. Draw it from him or lead him into a place where I may do it, and we shall all gain from it."



@Ermine
((Collaboration with @Ozerath))

Outer Orbit of Jalaryias
Environs of Sanctuary Station


Surrounded by the eerie silence of the deathly sidereal void, the ship swept through its chill expanse, its shape and rapid, smooth motion rendering it similar to some sort of abyssal predator swimming through murky oceanic depths. Some hundred thousand miles away, yet seemingly no less vast for the distance, the silhouette of Jalaryias loomed ahead, akin to a small, faint sun, to such an extent that it had likely been mistaken for one by many of the system's inhabitants in their early, primitive days. Though its satellites were both large and numerous, almost none could be seen from the ship's position, save for a few sparse, barely visible asteroids constellated across the luminous circle of its surface. Unless one were equipped with instruments more discerning than mere vision, the vessel itself would have appeared to them as merely one of those; and so would its destiation likewise have appeared to its occupants, had their own perceptions not been suitably enhanced and funneled through the craft's mechanical conduits.

Within, the ship appeared almost as empty as its external surroundings. Manifestly, it was desiged to accommodate far greater numbers than the company which had presently taken up quarters in it. There was some animation in the fore sections, with rays of golden light streaming into the penumbra beyond, accompanied by the chittering of Vraslil voices. However, most of the large, vaulted chambers, which could, for their conformation, have served as rudimentary barracks, hangars or storage depots alike, were empty, the darkness in them feebly pierced by dim green lights streaming from rown of diminutive projectors along the intersection between the walls and the floor, and the silence only slightly disturbed by the low humming of motors somewhere below and occasionally broken by the steps and rasping breathing of patrolling cybeasts.

Presently, however, life seemed to course through the hollow spaces. The green lights grew more intense, and scurrying steps began to be heard throughout the vessel, accompanied by rhytmic metallic clattering, as its occupants sprang into motion. Though it was not particularly perceivable from within, its motion was growing progressively slower, as the engines shifted to a stance more suited for finer manoeuvering. The ship was approaching its destination.




Sanctuary shone like a beacon in the void. The station was massive, and still growing. The lights of its artificial cities shone from within their habitat domes, beckoning travellers closer. There was a throng of traffic flitting about the station, freighters and transports from all over the orbitals, interspersed with golden Concordat cutters diligently policing the flow. The station was not armed, of course. It was a civilian installation. Powerful shield generators could keep it safe for a time, and anyone with half a brain knew that Concordat warships lurked just out of range, silent and ready to strike at a would be invader. Sanctuary's reputation also helped protect it; the largest civilian hub beyond the garden moons was hardly a valid military target. Anyone who attacked it would be attacking the citizens of a dozen nations; destroying it would constitute an atrocity.

The Covenant vessel was granted clearance and assigned an approach vector. Soon enough, it was nosing against the station's bulk, attaching tubes and conduits.

A tone sounded in the waiting room. Kedal practiced her most diplomatic smile. Joren conveyed his amusement at her over the network. Sendema was not with them, thankfully. Kedal had managed to convince her to skip this particular meeting. Sendema was not a great admirer of the Covenant, and Kedal was not keen to have her bluntness foul up negotiations. Herself and Joren were adequate representation, each of them Star Chamber members from opposing factions. They would suffice to advance the Concordat's agenda. The door to the airlock began to cycle open, and Kedal turned to face it, assuming the smile she'd been practicing.

Due to the rather restrictive positioning requirements in boarding such an object as Sanctuary, the ship was so placed that its boarding ramp was facing the void, regrettably rendering the somewhat militaristic typical landing display of Covenant delegations impossible in these circumstances. However, whoever it was that arranged the usage of its openings was seemingly quite capable of adapting to unusual situations. As the airlock door gradually unlocked, wisps of yellow-greenish vapour escaped through the narrow space between its edges and the metallic surface around them, rapidly dissipating in the waiting room's clear air, albeit not without leaving a strange, unplceable and mildly unpleasant odor hovering about it. Then, the door swung open, revealing a vast, shadowy space, only a part of which was conspicuously visible, partly lit by regular patterns of low green lights. Then, something stirred in the rearmost shadows of the chamber, and a number of distinctly alien shapes emerged from it.

The first to step out of the ship and into Sanctuary were a pair of Vraslil, one of them slightly bulkier and shorter-limbed than the other. Their proboscidal appendages twitched in their customary manner as they took stock of the new environment, then briefly flailed in confusion as they were met with the uncustomarily sterile, artificially conditioned air of the station before hastily returning to more composed motions. Following them was a Iurrkhal, to all appearance, rather unremarkable for his species, whose only reaction was a mildly suspicious pulsation of his central body. Behind them, closing the procession as an otherworldly honour guard, seven large quadrupedal amalgams of bestial flesh and metal crawled out of the darkness with a vaguely arachnoid gait, their laboured breathing the loudest sound rising from the group.

Having reached what might well have been the limit of the respectful distance from the Concordat representatives, the delegation stopped. If even they did notice Kedal's smile, they apparently did not think much of it, but their cerimonious oscillating motions seemed to indicate a greeting of sorts. Then, the foremost Vraslil began to speak in its language of clicks and vibrations. Resounding over his characteristically indistinct words, a mechanical monotone rang out from the bulk of one of the beasts, without, however, the creature itself having moved in the slightest:

"We salute the honoured representatives of the beneficent Concordat. I am Swarm-Speaker Xalthil, Adjunct-Administrator of the Iurrketh-Vraslir Covenant; these who accompany me are the distinguished Adminstrator Evrell and Cycle-Bearer Rezthil, of the Global Vraslir Union. We hail you with the hope that our communication shall be enjoyable and fruitful for us all."

Kedal spread her hands wide and low in a welcoming gesture. Well, other bipeds would certainly recognize it as a welcoming gesture; whether the distinctly alien Covenant members would make that connection was unsure. There were plenty of Iurrkhal in the Concordat, many of them here on Sanctuary. Certainly enough to develop working translation software, which Kedal had loaded in her cortical processor. Her understanding of body language was considerably more limited, and she couldn't hope to mimic their gestures with her own tetrapod configuration. She was faintly amused by the discrepencies between what the Covenant translator was saying and what her own software was telling her. Evidently Xalthil was not being as polite as their translator was indicating. Naturally she had zero intention of letting the Covenant representatives she could understand their language on her own. That was not an advantage one lightly gave up in diplomacy.

"I am Kedal, this is Joren, both of the Star Chamber. We welcome you to Sanctuary. If you would come this way?"

She led them to a lift car, which ushered them deeper into the station, then up the curve of a habitat dome towards the traditional conference room at the apex. As the lift moved them along, Kedal made an effort at small talk. Again, she wasn't sure if the Iurrkhal and Vraslil would appreciate the effort, but a lifetime of politics and diplomacy made the attempt almost instinct.

"Is Sanctuary as you expected it would be? Few Vraslil have seen it." She did not mention the many, many *Iurrkhal* who had seen it. No point bringing up that sore spot, which again made Kedal grateful Sendema was not here. Much as she admired Sendema's vision and drive, it would hardly do to have her casually referring to the Covenant representatives as 'primitive' and 'backwards'.

Joren abruptly spoke to her over the network. Kedal easily engaged him in conversation even as she listened to Swarm-Speaker Xalthil's response.
"I guarantee they're here about Tarin." Joren's certainty was conveyed quite clearly over their connection.
"And if they are? We could use the assistance, even with the Tremarians on our side."
"It doesn't add up. Why approach us now? What's changed?"
"You worry too much.
"Maybe. Let's just be careful."


Xalthil had finished speaking, and the translator...being...was beginning to recount his words in that mechanical monotone.

As soon as the Swarm-Speaker's greeting had been answered, the creature which had rendered his words in a - supposedly - more comprehensible form began to whirr and chitter after the fashion of his own speech, manifestly for the delegation's benefit. The process was repeated with Kedal's question once the group had been conveyed by the lift to a height allowing them to appreciate the vistas of the station's interior, whereupon Xalthil, having remained still for a few moments as he elaborated the question posed to them, replied, rejoindered by the voice emanating from the cybeast:

"Few Vraslil, yes. Our collective holds little information. Notwithstanding the overview conforms to our suppositions sufficiently for the reliability of them not to be compromised. Have the distinguished Adminstrator Evrell and Cycle-Bearer Rezthil observations in addition to the empirical appraisal?"

"Contrary to predictions, biodiversity could be enhanced by my individual estimates." Rezthil spoke through the mechanical translator, "Ambient conditions are optimal for the undertaking, yes, esteemed Administrator Evrell?"

The Iurrkhal seemed to briefly, but conspicuously contemplate either the query or his surroundings. "Simulated atmospheric cleansing is perceived sufficient for the undertaking. Simulated sky objects could concern utilization."

Such, at least, was the version of their words provided by the machine, and, in a strictly literal sense, it was accurate enough. However, what the translator program did not, and probably could not, adequately transpose to another language were the intonations and characteristically subtly interwoven turns of phrase, with which Covenant speech was replete, which could have provided to anyone personally familiar with it a far greater insight into the true intent of the envoys' words. Xalthil was somewhat puzzled at being asked what he understood to be a strategically evaluative question; Rezthil did not make a great effort to conceal that he believed biodiversity not only could, but should be "enhanced" if it was to meet any acceptable standard, and Evrell's appraisal left little to the imagination regarding what exactly he thought of just how unproductive that holographic sky was.

"We are assured that the honoured Concordat will employ our input in methods it trusts appropriate." Xalthil clicked out once again, in a tone which might have appeared either conciliatory or signifying agreement wih the others' comments, "Mutual benefit resides in our interest." This last part betrayed a certain impatience, as though he were eager to establish said benefit in a more concrete form.

Joren smiled briefly. "It's a work in progress," he said in response to the commentary. Kedal nodded sagely. "We'll be certain to consider your assessment going forward." Not the most productive exchange, but it had served its purpose. The lift deposited them in the conference room. On one side of the table were a number of chairs. On the other were a few podiums designed for Iurrkhal, and some empty space for the Vraslil delegates. Kedal and Joren took two of the chairs. They took a moment to sort out their thoughts, almost literally. Both of them ran quick self diagnoses, double checking that their implants were all working and connected to the station's network.

Adequately settled in, Kedal took the lead. "We are delighted to entertain representatives of the Covenant, and always welcome the opportunity to improve relations between our two great nations. Fostering cooperation and understanding is a worthy objective, after all." She said it like a question, but before the delegates could begin to formulate an answer, Joren cut in.
"Indeed, but let's be more specific. What can the Concordat do for you, and what can you do for us?"

Kedal was not satisfied with simply conveying her displeasure over the network. She actively scowled at Joren for a moment as he got straight to the point, rather than letting her wind her way there through formalities and pleasantries. No one seemed to appreciate formalities anymore.

Having reached the table, Evrell crawled upon one of the podiums with an oozing, but rather stately motion, whilst the Vraslil took position to his right, with Xalthil in the middle. The creatures, which had followed the delegation into the conference room, arrayed themselves in a semicircle behind them, the one serving as, or containing, a translator in the figure's center. The three delegates exchanged brief undulations - what might have passed for nods and glances among them - then Xalthil began to speak, the translinguistic rendition this time having virtually no discrepancies from the original, at least as far as meaning was concerned:

"We believe the honoured Concordat is aware that the planetary system our collectives populate is as currently within an epoch of socio-political instability. Forces actively opposed to the Covenant and the honoured Concordat have entered functioning. In the span of recent planetary month units, damaging enterprises have been accomplished over the surface of Erelvath by agents subordinate to the Aurolian Federation, which has been learned. The detailed accounts of the damaging enterprises are desirably not divulged; notwithstanding it is established that the purpose of mentioned is to provoke instability about the dominion of the Covenant and the reverend constituent nations. The ulterior motive has been calculated to consist in inducing weakness and disorder in probable preparation for martial offensive.

The hostility of the Aurolian Federation in respect of the Covenant is veterate and ancestral, and it has been predicted the inimical force would implement disruptive and damaging measures at given moment. The bolstering and proliferation of the Aurolian Federation and the fruition of its hostile targets would result in an undesirable outcome for alike the honoured Concordat and the Covenant, and conceive significant instability across the planetary system.

We possess intelligence regarding the Aurolian Federation having engaged in military deployment upon the surface of the planetoid-moon Tarin. In addition, the notoriety of the honoured Concordat implementing measures to maintain the structure of the planetoid-moon Tarin secure is gathered by us. Projections of the Covenant indicate that neutralisation of the armed forces deployed from the Aurolian Federation is probable to destabilise its hostile functions and induce shortages of assembled intent.

Ensuingly, the Covenant finds interest in extending the following proposal to the honoured Concordat. The Covenant will deploy armed forces in support of the structure of the planetoid-moon Tarin which it is a functional target of the honoured Concordat to preserve and assist in the neutralisation of inimical presences. Additionally, the Cycle-Bearers of the Global Vraslir Union, represented by Cycle-Bearer Rezthil, will assist in the operations of support and neutralisation."

At this point, Rezthil slowly waved his proboscis in approbation. The Swarm-Speaker continued:

"The neutralisation of the Aurolian Federation is beneficial; notwithstanding, we estimate the material cost for the Covenant and the Global Vraslir Union is probable to result significant. Therefore, we possess authorisation to forward a single condition for the honoured Concordat. Upon the accomplishment of the neutralisation of the Aurolian Federation, the honoured Concordat is to assist in negotiations between the Covenant and the autonomous planetoidal structure to the effect of the planetoidal structure ceding a fraction of the natural reserves of the mineral renthulium extracted from the planetoid-moon Tarin to the Covenant. The mentioned fraction has been calculated not to affect the acquisitions of the autonomous planetoidal structure negatively, and amounts to an approximate value of two point eight three five eight percent of total. The Covenant and the Global Vraslir Union will issue no further demands and will not interfere with the activities of the autonomous planetoidal structure and the honoured Concordat.

We trust the honoured Concordat will find these terms agreeable."

As the last words issued from the beast's mechanical interior in their new guise, Evrell undulated sideways with his central body as a sign of approbation, whilst the Vraslil remained mostly immobile, either confident in the answer which would come or impassively expectant.

Kedal and Joren remained impassive while the delegates spoke, but they were rapidly conversing over the network. Joren remained skeptical, as if he was trying to prove something.
"Aurollian activity on Erelvath? I hadn't heard anything about that."
"Why would you have? We hardly have extensive intelligence assets there."
Kedal was liking where the Covenant delegates were heading, and didn't want Joren to ruin it.
"But surely we would have heard something, if not from Erelvath, then from Aurollia."
"And why would they conceivably lie to us?"

Joren was silent after that. He indeed could not think of a motive for the Covenant to deceive them.

And then Xalthil dropped those terms. Those wonderful, perfect terms. A pitance of Renthulium in exchange for military support against the Federation. It was almost too good to be true. Joren was convinced it was, and said as much to Kedal.
"That's bait. It can't possibly be all they want."
"And why not? That's still a substantial amount of Renthulium. Still, perhaps I agree with you to an extent. Certainly not enough to turn them down, but...well, we'll have to keep a careful eye on them."


A soft pinging noise indicated someone on the station wanted to access their conversation. Kedal checked the identitag: Sendema. It must irk her to have to request communication, rather than simply barging in with her overrides. But as ostensible equals in the Star Chamber, Kedal and Joren were immune to such tricks. Kedal waited a moment before accepting the request. Just long enough to remind Sendema they were indeed equals. Kedal might back the 'Harbinger of Tomorrow' in public, but she still didn't care for Sendema's towering arrogance.

"Accept the terms." Sendema said in no uncertain terms.
"Keeping an eye on us I see" Joren replied acerbically.
"Yes. Accept the terms. We can shoot the primitives in the back later if they prove problematic. For now we need everything we can get against the Federation."
Then she was gone.

The translator beast finished recounting Xalthil's words. Kedal forced herself to wait a few moments, as if she hadn't understood the Vraslil's original utterances. Then she clapped her hands together in a mild display of delight. "Swarm-speaker, these terms are quite agreeable to the Concordat. We would happily welcome your aid against the intrusions of the Federation."

The devices concealed in the creature's bowels having completed their translation, the Covenant envoys exchanged another series of gestures and motions, then each proceeded to express their contentment by the means of a bodily oscillation of some sort. Having gone through this seemingly ritualistic performance, Rezthil and Evrell continued to gently sway the one upon his legs, the other on the podium, whilst Xalthil replied once again, the machine superadding its toneless notes to his own chittering speech:

"It is well for us to appreciate that the honoured Concordat has discerning ability as concerns the common positive gain. From my position, the Covenant finds these facts agreeable. Upon our acquisition of relevant strategic information, the armed forces recalled in the stipulation will proceed to neutralising the presence of the Aurolian Federation. A propitious era has been opened for the Covenant and the honoured Concordat."
<Snipped quote by Sigma>

Though in the meantime i am curious to know how the other nations would view the Xenor Kingdom and how relations would have been between them. Anyone want to help take a crack at it? :P


Considering most of the Vraslil who were still curious about where the experiment might go left the moon with them and that, by this time, most, if not all, of those actually involved with it are dead (non-enhanced Vraslil are not very long-lived, after all, and centuries have passed since then), the views on the Xenor of most of Erelvath's inhabitants would probably fall somewhere between indifferent and wary lest they someday decide to take their revenge for being exiled. The Covenant views them as a minor nuisance at best, the Iurrkhal never were especially concerned about them, and most Vraslil are too focused on their current projects to do anything more than occasionally reminisce of that one.

That said, it is quite likely these attitudes might change in the very near future. The whole matter has suggested to me there might actually be an ideology promoting the enforcement of "purity" taking root within the Covenant since those days, though in a rather non-traditional sense, which could perhaps lead to a radical faction arising which seeks to wipe out the Xenor altogether. Likewise, some Vraslil might become interested in reclaiming their biological designs and those they have themselves developed - if necessary, by force.
Altogether, I would say a scenario similar to the one suggested by @The Harbinger of Ferocity would succeed in gathering the party together quite plausibly - namely, Athera and @Mistiel's Ceria happening upon each other I the course of their travels, then encountering mine and @Turbowraith's characters, who, as I might have previously mentioned somewhere, had issued together from their shared region of origin, and banding together either for greater safety or against some better-defined common threat or obstacle. @Ermine's warlock could have then joined the group at some settlement or other resting-place, possibly deeming such a group to have the potential to entangle itself in some memorable adventure or the other.
@Holy Grail

I suppose that, with what has been said so far, you can very well proceed with creating something directly - if necessary, I shall comment on it once it is done. However, if you are uncertain about anything or want to know further details about Erelvath and its inhabitants, do feel free to PM me or ask through the chat.
I can't say i've ever before felt as tense and hoping that a group of mushrooms manage to board a ship, but here we are.
Nice job on the writing. @Oraculum


Why, thank you. I feared the post might have been tiresome due to its length, but fortunately it appears the lengthy process of writing did produce something palatable after all.

Idea 1 (Related to Oralculum's Races: What about a colony of humans that once tried to settle on Erelvath many years ago in Iurrkhal territory, only to be transformed bit by bit into a sub-species of human (or technically sub-species of Iurrkhal perhaps) due to contact with the fungal Iurrkhal. This transformed these human into a unique species, before the two dominant species of Erelvath drove them off of the planet many moons ago. Since then, the species could have been living in space, perhaps being altered even further into a unique species due to not living on a Garden World for many centuries. That way they could become more unique than just a human-Iurrkhal hybrid of some sort.


I do like the idea - it seems like something which could very well occur naturally, given that Erelvath's biosphere is not entirely friendly to extraneous species and it would have required some adaptation on the part of humans to be able to walk about there without hazardous terrain suits at all (perhaps they could even have done so voluntarily in order to gain an advantage). Additionally, like most fungoids, the Iurrkhal reproduce through spores. Before the Combine introduced specific regulations, these spores were sowed quite openly, scattering over large expanses of ground, and all sorts of strange things could have happened to humans exposed to them for a long time.

On the other hand, we should not forget about Erelvath's other inhabitants, the Vraslil, especially since biological mutation and modification is largely their "hat". The hybridisation process you described could very well have happened naturally; however, I personally find that it could be more interesting if the whole of it had been one large experiment secretly engineered by the Vraslil to see what would happen. Depending on how the humans reacted to their change, eventually discovering this could be either traumatic or, alternatively, give them a reason to be well-disposed towards their "benefactors".

As for being ousted from the planet, that is not something either species would be likely to do, given that they had permitted them to land in the first place. However, it certainly is something the Covenant would have done while consolidating its power, and the timeline would fit as well.

All in all, I would say this offers plenty of interesting possibilities to work with.
Added a probably unnecessary, but ominous new character to my sheet. Do not be fooled - he is most definitely important.
Ulor Travos


"All throughout the land there are many who believe that their lives have some sort of meaning in virtue of the fact that their names are passed from mouth to mouth over a hundred times a day, or that they are not shunned and alone. I never partook of such delusions, but I might have found them easier to comprehend in my unenlightened years."
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