[x] NAME - Xarin
[x] PRONOUNS - They/It
[x] QUESTION(S) (Related to Rules) - How is the pecking order among the pack members decided? Informal sparring for social standing, based on age/seniority alone or is there a different/"official" way?
[x] ACTION
-[X] SOCIALIZE
[x] NAME - Trigger
[x] PRONOUNS - They/Them
[x] QUESTION(S) (Related to Rules) - How is the pecking order among the pack members decided? Informal sparring for social standing, based on age/seniority alone or is there a different/"official" way?
[x] ACTION
-[x] SOCIALIZE
[X] QUESTION(S) (Related to Rules) - How is the pecking order among the pack members decided? Informal sparring for social standing, based on age/seniority alone or is there a different/"official" way?
QUESTION(S) (Related to Rules) - How is the pecking order among the pack members decided? Informal sparring for social standing, based on age/seniority alone, or is there a different/"official" way?
You did have a question. "How is the pack structured?" you asked, you weren't very ambitious, you just wanted to know. She had a very blunt answer.
"There is my inner circle and I am above them. You are below them. Impress them and you will become a part of their retinue. Impress me and you will make it into my Inner Circle's ranks," she said. It was a simple structure, easy to understand and obey. She turned away, going off to tinker with some corpse parts. Her chamber had an entire side dedicated to it, a variety of different bits and pieces from her many hunts. You took it for what it was, a dismissal, and left.
Stepping back out into the sunlight, you wondered what to do as you looked around the Nest. It was even bigger than you thought, full of little nooks and crannies. Caches inside caches, burrows connected to other burrows through tiny holes. It made you even more aware of the diversity within the ranks. The Nest had to be able to accommodate Beings of all sizes and shapes. From tiny and long to large and wide. Occasionally, you spotted other rookies like you expanding the Nest, digging out their own small spaces. Nothing so grandiose as the chambers of Bullet and the Circle but places where they could rest and store trophies.
You saw tiny dots on the horizon, growing slowly larger and larger. There weren't many, just three. A Circle member, a wide chest with six furry legs and a scaly body called out. He had bangles denoting him as high ranking, the bones of his enemies fashioned into piercings that hung from scarred scales. A deep, rumbling sound that must've resounded for miles. The flyers called back, their voices a high screech, better for piercing through the skies. As they grew closer, you saw that they flew with short wings of skin. The biggest just had two large pairs but the two smaller Beings were practically covered in wings. Built for speed, not endurance, they followed in the wind tail of their leader.
"Welcome back, Sky. I see you've had a successful hunt," the circle member said, moving forward to greet the flyers. They were laying a corpse on the ground, already a small crowd was gathering to feast.
"Heh, I always do, Crafter," the large one, Sky, replied using a second mouth on their back, lending their voice an odd distance.
Their body was interesting, and symmetrical yet with some radial features. They possessed a long beak with sharp teeth protruding from it with claws on the underside which were already ripping into the chitin-covered corpse. Seeking out the juiciest, meatiest bits and tossing them into their beak. They were also likely to be in the circle with the casual way they spoke to Crafter. As they ate, Crafter scavenged some of the more intact bits of chitin armor, probably to fashion it into something when he walked off to his chambers. When Sky finished, they simply jumped off the spire.
With the inner circle finished, the rest moved in to eat what was left, including you. You filled your stomach with flesh for the first time in a long while, shivering in pleasure. There wasn't much especially when distributed amongst everyone. A furry, symmetrical Being with long limbs who was next to you struck up a conversation.
"You're new, yes?" he said, casually eating and talking at the same time.
His movements were...strange. Two arms were stripping flesh from chitin with startling coordination while two others weaved a basket out of vines. You couldn't achieve that level of multitasking, he had to be a tad older than you. Certainly more experienced.
"Yes, I decided to call myself Trigger. What is your name?" you said. You thought it good to talk with a Being like this. Not too far above like Bullet nor too far below. Although, you were likely the weakest member at the moment.
"Swing," he grunted. "You look pretty basic, what's your specialty?" he asked. You were fairly sure you knew where the name came from, his eight arms would certainly help him swing through the jungle.
"I'm likely to become an ambush predator, burrowing and leaping at my prey when they come by," you informed him. It was what you did with your first kill after all.
"Gonna be honest, you need a better body. It's just not well-suited to that style right now. Your mouth is on the wrong side and you need to bulk up," he said brutally. You took no offense, what he said wasn't wrong yet just as you were about to say something, he continued.
"A couple of acquaintances and I are going on a hunt soon. I've been scouting out this large herbivore with some rather strange mouth parts for a while now. I'll give you them. Take 'em to Thread to upgrade your body," he said quickly. "So, wanna join?" he offered as he finished eating.
You considered it while idly chewing on a piece of chitin. This was an opportunity, to go on a hunt with others, and returning with meat would surely be a first step to impressing Bullet. Yet you didn't quite have enough information to gauge what exactly he meant with the mouth parts and whoever Thread was. So you asked.
"Who is Thread and why would they want mouth parts?" He hesitated before answering.
"Thread is...Bullet's Fleshweaver. They go way back," he trailed off before suddenly remembering, "Oh right, also it's not part of the pack. You need to ply food and favors for it to help you but it can pull some miracles if you pay well," he said, showing off his multitasking with each arm doing a different task. When that was eight arms, that was a feat.
"This took a small mountain in meat and a fortune in favors," still multitasking to an insane degree. "The nerve networking has saved my life several times over though so it was worth it," he started to wander off as he finished eating. Leaving with a "Think about my offer, yeah?"
You promised to consider it. He was a fount of information and the hunt wasn't a bad idea at all. Eventually, as the corpse was reduced to nothing, you walked away to talk to some more Beings. Perhaps get a tour of the nest.
As you walked, you stumbled upon who you thought was Inner Circle. This one had bioluminescent jewelry, bone infused with bits of glowing vines. The chains wove around her many-limbed body. She had arms upon arms upon arms all building on each other, obscuring a core body from where it all grew. They were specialized arms for different purposes, some were bulky with thick claws, and others were thin with long, dexterous tendrils.
She reminded you of your mother, as she was based on a similar body plan. No sacks but she was well on her way to getting rid of the core and becoming simply limbs attached to each other endlessly. She noticed you first from an arm full of eyes near the center of her body and spoke.
"Ah, the new one," growled a surprisingly deep voice. "I'm curious, does your flesh and blood call out to me? Or have I diverged too much?" she asked enigmatically. You weren't sure what she was even talking about but her status bid you remain in place and listen. She sensed your confusion and chuckled.
"Ah, good. I have changed, younger sibling," she said. Shock first went through your mind before realization came later. The pieces came together. A body of limbs like your mother, the core seeming suspiciously like yours. Of course, the clincher was what she called you, she could only be a Sibing from an earlier batch. She waited for you to finish your thought before introducing herself.
"I am Stitch, apprentice of Thread and Pack Fleshweaver. Who are you?" she spoke with rote. Not like Bullet's rules where it was rote because she had said it so many times, no, Stitch had a bit of true ritual to her. You copied that style.
"I am Trigger. Follower of Bullet and Pack member," you said, introducing yourself. Her many mouths on many arms smiled.
"Already learning, aren't you? Good. Ritual is important, ritual and legacy. They are what separates us from mere beasts in the muck," she intoned. You weren't sure how much you agreed with that but you listened nonetheless. "I can see what Bullet saw in you though you need some bulk," she said the same thing as Swing.
"Yes, I'm aware. The opportunity for more flesh is why I'm considering a hunt with Swing," you retorted with a tad bit of sting in your voice. You knew you need more meat. She had an unexpected reaction to what you said, her body radiating disgust.
"Bah, Swing. A fool as any I've ever seen," she spat. "Obsessed with getting us Fleshweavers to augment for him. It's not right. He's sabotaging true growth in favor of shortcuts. I would've been fine with teaching him how to truly manipulate meat and bone but simply doing it for him on payment? A disgrace," Stitch ranted in anger before she focused back on you.
"Take my advice, little sibling. Stay far away from the likes of Swing. True growth requires pain and learning, not cheating. It'll be his death, mark my words," she said as she glanced at another member. "I have to go but bulk up, refine your body and I'll put in my retinue with knowledge of Fleshweaving available," she said quickly. Then she skittered away as fast as she spoke, her gait a strange, uneven thing.
What do you decide to do next?
[] HUNT
-[] SWING's OFFER
-[] SOLO
[] WRITE IN
I hope the dialogue wasn't too bad, it's not a particularly strong point of mine. Taking Swing's offer won't make Stitch reject you but it'll raise the difficulty of joining.
I'm sure Stitch is right in principal, but we're in a Pack-hunting region and we're still effectively Level 0. I don't like the idea of wandering off solo just yet.
Do we only get a single action or is it possible to do something before we go on a hunt? Due to our development it would probably be easier to set up a small hole for ourselves before we leave on a hunt. Suggesting it goes well we may be quite tired when we get back.
Do we only get a single action or is it possible to do something before we go on a hunt? Due to our development it would probably be easier to set up a small hole for ourselves before we leave on a hunt. Suggesting it goes well we may be quite tired when we get back.
[X] Dig a small hole in a spire before you leave so that you have a place ready to rest in upon your return.
Given our little creachur is so weak, I figure they will go for smaller beings, and that's okay because its safer but they also get every piece for themselves.
With Swing's offer we just get the mouthparts, rather than MEAT. And I want MEAT.
[X] Dig a small hole in a spire before you leave so that you have a place ready to rest in upon your return.
It would be better if we get used to the jungle on our own terms. Our cautious and patient personality means we can take our time to learn while if we follow the guys offer we risk a confrontation with some of the jungles predators. A sizeable kill in a group action will attract a lot more attention then if we say use our tactics to kill a smaller creature and hide away underground. Plus we don't need to take a relationship hit with a potential very profitable friendship with our elder sister.
Since they're tied, I will roll a dice. 1-50 is solo, 51-100 is Swing's Offer.. This update will take me a bit to write, I do have IRL stuff to do. Expect either today at night or tomorrow morning. I wasn't able to pre-write since the vote was so close. I couldn't predict which one was going to win.
EDIT - Solo won.
Scheduled vote count started by BeeBadidoo on May 10, 2023 at 1:14 PM, finished with 14 posts and 12 votes.
Since they're tied, I will roll a dice. 1-50 is solo, 51-100 is Swing's Offer.. This update will take me a bit to write, I do have IRL stuff to do. Expect either today at night or tomorrow morning. I wasn't able to pre-write since the vote was so close. I couldn't predict which one was going to win.
EDIT - Solo won.
Scheduled vote count started by BeeBadidoo on May 10, 2023 at 1:14 PM, finished with 14 posts and 12 votes.
I had a question relevant to being an ambush predator who might see long periods between meals; what sort of challenges would we face if we tried to get our little Being to develop photosynthesis?
I had a question relevant to being an ambush predator who might see long periods between meals; what sort of challenges would we face if we tried to get our little Being to develop photosynthesis?
Photosynthesis is one of those things that have to be crafted. Your Use mechanic is small changes over a long time, akin to evolution. For example, cats will never develop photosynthesis. Similarly, photosynthesis is too far away from your base to change naturally. ]To do it, either you learn flesh weaving or you have to pay someone else to do it. Though, there are also symbiotes, which I'll get to later on. I'll say though, your current environment isn't the best for photosynthesis. On the canopy, sure, but below is pretty much complete darkness.
BTW, if you keep going on the ambush, I'm going to make it more of a stalk, learn, and trap type rather than wait stealthily in a bush because the latter will be extremely boring for all involved.
BTW, if you keep going on the ambush, I'm going to make it more of a stalk, learn, and trap type rather than wait stealthily in a bush because the latter will be extremely boring for all involved.
That is honestly my goal mid term. The ambush/trap tactic is great early game and we can transition that into a fearsome stalker that has great muscle strength, potentially tougher skin, and deadly shovel claws that could maybe turn into something more versatile later. A potential consequences is we may grow a bit too used to using the underground in our hunting tactics though...
Photosynthesis is one of those things that have to be crafted. Your Use mechanic is small changes over a long time, akin to evolution. For example, cats will never develop photosynthesis. Similarly, photosynthesis is too far away from your base to change naturally. ]To do it, either you learn flesh weaving or you have to pay someone else to do it. Though, there are also symbiotes, which I'll get to later on. I'll say though, your current environment isn't the best for photosynthesis. On the canopy, sure, but below is pretty much complete darkness.
BTW, if you keep going on the ambush, I'm going to make it more of a stalk, learn, and trap type rather than wait stealthily in a bush because the latter will be extremely boring for all involved.
Oooo thank you muchly. Also thank you for aiming for a stalking/learning and trapper build - which actually kind of reminds me of a tiger that learns and makes traps. Wonderfully terrifying, the idea of a tiger with opposable thumbs.
