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May. 30th, 2012 10:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonflower77the ÿnωωω collective (outsider name – qadhir):
a group of migratory desert-dwelling creatures. little else was known about them other than that they were sapient and sentient - possibly as intelligent as humans or more so, although there were no means of finding out for certain - and, judging by their synchronized movements, group-conscious. i would qualify them as a classic hive mind because they had no individual identities whatsoever, not even interconnected or fused ones, and behaved like a single organism that happened to consist of several bodies.
on their own, they could not survive in the most literal sense. a drone separated from the superorganism by means of neurosurgery, through destroying certain centers in their brain, would develop terminal neural degeneration and die in a matter of hours. drones who were left behind as the ÿnωωω traveled through the desert and became lost grew disoriented, exhibited signs of growing distress and searched for the group in a frantic, agitated and blind manner, which suggested a loss of higher intellect; if not reunited with the rest of the group within 6-48 hours, they died from what seemed to be a combination of neurological factors and emotional shock, internal emptiness, or grief. the longest recorded period for a stranded drone to survive outside of the collective was two days.
researchers were uncertain as to why the collective abandoned some drones and didn't always return for them. their mutual connections could have been dampened by physical distance and, once the stranded drone found itself too far behind, the others lost any awareness of the creature or its location and deemed it irretrievably lost. it's also possible that in some cases the collective wanted the humans from a neighboring settlement to help them find the drone and tried to communicate what had had happened to them, but failed.
the collective would constantly move from one location to another. they were gregarious and curious about humans, whom they couldn't understand but made repeated attempts to communicate with. they often followed caravans and groups of travelers in the desert, surrounding them when they halted and set up a camp. if a human sat down into the sand, the creatures piled onto them and "embraced" them by wrapping the wing-like sides of their bodies, which looked somewhat like a cape, around them and sometimes demonstrated a desire to insert their specialized long, delicate hairs into the skin, creating a temporary connection to the hive mind. the short-term link had no lasting ill effects, but some were disturbed by the experience while others found it enjoyable.
the creatures made strange, seemingly unintelligible noises that could include clicks, chirps, screeches, whistles and crackles, which appeared to have the pattern and properties of a "proper" language, but were exceedingly complex and alien and couldn't be decoded even by the most gifted xenolinguists. it was unknown whether the language existed for the sole purpose of speaking to humans and other intelligent species, or was also used amongst the drones as a supplementary means of communication; if so, no-one could tell why, because, as parts of one mind, they have no need for audible speech.
the ÿnωωω collective were completely harmless and incapable of defending themselves. they were not endangered by humans only because nobody had thought of a way to use them yet, but, judging by the general situation in the region, in a short while they would be.
their bodies were round and flat, their shape reminiscent of both a freshwater ray and a manta ray. they were able to burrow very rapidly and moved across the surface of the sand by making rippling or squirming movements. they were a light sandy-beige with a slightly darker brown belly, which served as camouflage in desert conditions, and had bands, similar in shape to tiger stripes; in females these were white, well-defined, situated on the back, whereas in males they were located on the sides and were light blue, delicate, indistinct, blending into the background at the edges. females had an oval white patch where the feeding-glands are (these may or may not have been mammary glands). they had one or two pairs of tentacles (arms) and were covered in sensory hairs, but did not have a hard scaly integument.
azila would enjoy spending time with them whenever she can. the temporary link would be a form of therapy for her, or, if you like, an emotional bonus, a minor consolation in an otherwise bleak world.
a group of migratory desert-dwelling creatures. little else was known about them other than that they were sapient and sentient - possibly as intelligent as humans or more so, although there were no means of finding out for certain - and, judging by their synchronized movements, group-conscious. i would qualify them as a classic hive mind because they had no individual identities whatsoever, not even interconnected or fused ones, and behaved like a single organism that happened to consist of several bodies.
on their own, they could not survive in the most literal sense. a drone separated from the superorganism by means of neurosurgery, through destroying certain centers in their brain, would develop terminal neural degeneration and die in a matter of hours. drones who were left behind as the ÿnωωω traveled through the desert and became lost grew disoriented, exhibited signs of growing distress and searched for the group in a frantic, agitated and blind manner, which suggested a loss of higher intellect; if not reunited with the rest of the group within 6-48 hours, they died from what seemed to be a combination of neurological factors and emotional shock, internal emptiness, or grief. the longest recorded period for a stranded drone to survive outside of the collective was two days.
researchers were uncertain as to why the collective abandoned some drones and didn't always return for them. their mutual connections could have been dampened by physical distance and, once the stranded drone found itself too far behind, the others lost any awareness of the creature or its location and deemed it irretrievably lost. it's also possible that in some cases the collective wanted the humans from a neighboring settlement to help them find the drone and tried to communicate what had had happened to them, but failed.
the collective would constantly move from one location to another. they were gregarious and curious about humans, whom they couldn't understand but made repeated attempts to communicate with. they often followed caravans and groups of travelers in the desert, surrounding them when they halted and set up a camp. if a human sat down into the sand, the creatures piled onto them and "embraced" them by wrapping the wing-like sides of their bodies, which looked somewhat like a cape, around them and sometimes demonstrated a desire to insert their specialized long, delicate hairs into the skin, creating a temporary connection to the hive mind. the short-term link had no lasting ill effects, but some were disturbed by the experience while others found it enjoyable.
the creatures made strange, seemingly unintelligible noises that could include clicks, chirps, screeches, whistles and crackles, which appeared to have the pattern and properties of a "proper" language, but were exceedingly complex and alien and couldn't be decoded even by the most gifted xenolinguists. it was unknown whether the language existed for the sole purpose of speaking to humans and other intelligent species, or was also used amongst the drones as a supplementary means of communication; if so, no-one could tell why, because, as parts of one mind, they have no need for audible speech.
the ÿnωωω collective were completely harmless and incapable of defending themselves. they were not endangered by humans only because nobody had thought of a way to use them yet, but, judging by the general situation in the region, in a short while they would be.
their bodies were round and flat, their shape reminiscent of both a freshwater ray and a manta ray. they were able to burrow very rapidly and moved across the surface of the sand by making rippling or squirming movements. they were a light sandy-beige with a slightly darker brown belly, which served as camouflage in desert conditions, and had bands, similar in shape to tiger stripes; in females these were white, well-defined, situated on the back, whereas in males they were located on the sides and were light blue, delicate, indistinct, blending into the background at the edges. females had an oval white patch where the feeding-glands are (these may or may not have been mammary glands). they had one or two pairs of tentacles (arms) and were covered in sensory hairs, but did not have a hard scaly integument.
azila would enjoy spending time with them whenever she can. the temporary link would be a form of therapy for her, or, if you like, an emotional bonus, a minor consolation in an otherwise bleak world.