From Aether overview

[Brandon]

“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.”

-Charles Darwin

From Aether has been a project of mine for the past 2 1/2 years (roughly). It started as an idea for a tabletop wargame (being heavily into warhammer at the time) but as time went on; the game aspect became less important and simply building the world became my focus. It has been through many incarnations and the current idea is vastly different than the original. I would be lying if I said I didn't expect it to change again, but I am happy with where it is right now.

My world focuses around the arrival of the agoori: a creature who, through a unique form of breeding, can craft their offspring into what ever they want. They can replicate themselves perfectly, add attributes, new limbs, even turn their children into living towers. Though they have no true form. They are soft bodied and boneless. All also seem to possess a tail with 2 worm-like appendages at the tip. Though observing the agoori, we have seen them insert their tails into themselves just before they get 'pregnant', it is safe to assume this is how they manipulate their off springs' genetic code. It is still uncertain weather or not they are (a)sexual, as agoori breeding has never been witnessed.






Above are early pictures of the agoori.

The arrival of the agoori was a very mysterious and world-shifting event. They seem to carry with them a very earth-like signature. Some humans speculate they came from space, somewhere deep in the cosmos. This theory would seem the most likely, but it is odd that we did not see them coming. They just started forming in the Aether. Others speculate they appeared through abiogenesis - forming in the sky as an airborne bacterium. Their unique form of breeding was coded into them naturally and they immediately began poly-morphing.

Regardless of how they formed, they have changed where we humans stand in the world. Only a few months after their arrival they created the agori, a human-agoori "hybrid" who's purpose seems to be an ambassador to the agoori.

Agori Appearance: They have the frame of a monkey though hairless. Their bones seem very fragile, as the agoori are boneless mollusks. Their face resembles that of a human, but with no nose, much sharper teeth, and 3 distinct vertical slits on their forehead. These 3 slits seem to be one of the few consistent physical features of all agoori. It is thought that they are the agoori's "eyes and ears" and operate as a sole form of communication through electronic signals. Though this hypothesis has never been tested, testing on the creatures is forbidden by international human law. The agori are very fast, but cannot hold pace over long distances. Not much is known about them. There are relatively few and they seem to have a lot of trouble learning any language.

cont......

[Brandon]

Humans' reaction to the Ago(o)ri - We did not react in any one way. Governments and individuals the world over seem to be in constant conflict as to what is right. Some are willing to share the Earth with them, working together and sharing our technologies. Others want a mass extermination and have formed hate-groups the world over, who attack them on sight. This has lead to confusion in the agoori community and isolated killings of humans. As of now - the United Nations is trying to set forth a plan to share our world. Giving them select pieces of land and most of our ocean. This bill is on hiatus as we have not successfully been able to communicate with the agori. Though progress needs to be made soon.

The Agoori and food - We are still un-aware the full diet of the agoori. All shapes and sizes of agoori all seem to ingest a fungus-like substance known as 'ambrosia'. Ambrosia seems to grow on the agooris themselves which leads us to believe they are a self-sustaining organism. Though the agori do not seem to have this food source, and we have witnessed them feeding on their own kind. This is either normal behavior, or they fear eating what we consider food. On that note, one of the first sighting of the agori involved them fighting and eating each other. This was seen from a distance in India and it appeared as if it was 2 humans feeding on each other. A crowd formed and began shouting " Aghori, Aghori!" (a cannibalistic sect of Hinduism) And the name stuck. Though the English speaking gentleman who proposed the name, spelled it wrong.

The Guardians -

The above image is a rough depiction of what I had in mind. I do not own the rights to the above picture.

If it wasn't bad enough that we humans are arguing with ourselves, attempting to communicate with a creature who is believed has never had a language, and living in fear of competing for land with our new arrivals - another creature has appeared. We call them the Guardians. They are cat-sized arthropods who live in polymorphic underground communities similar to ants or termites. Though they are not strictly insects, some look to be scorpion-like, while others resemble millipedes. It is assumed they are all related and follow a queen, but a queen has never been found. The Guardians did appear not long after the arrival of the agoori, and it is assumed they are their creation. The only problem with this theory is the lack of any similar traits to the agoori.

A small cult of humans has formed who believe they are the protectors Earth and have lived in deep underground cities waiting to defend their planet. Hence, their name. The guardians have been seen attacking the agoori, and driving them away from their colonies, but no one knows the exact age of the creatures. Humans try to avoid them, as they are highly protective of their land.

Guardians will eat anything and everything around them. They even travel far from their colonies just to bring in dead plant/animal matter. Surrounding their vast underground cities are massive forests (presumably planted by the bugs themselves). Though the forest don't seem as habitable as the ones we are familiar with. The trees appear dead, or have very little foliage, animals avoid them when they can, and they seem to harvest so much dead matter, resulting in massive mounts of poisonous mold and fungus. If their is a water source nearby, it often becomes fermented and barren. The guardians protect life, but they seem to only be interested in bugs, bacteria, fungus, and plants.

[Borak]

I like the direction you have taken with this compared to the last itteration i saw (a fantasy world of various monkey/ape men and beasts)

i think combining the Agori concept with the Mollusc concept was a good move, so was re-introducing the human race. it give the lay person a familiar launch point from which to suspend thier disbelief

there are a few gaps that need addressing and one or two bits that don't make much sense (like the Agori food section) but it's certainly well on it's way

It's like 3.30am where i am. I'm off to bed but i'll give you some more thorough feedback once i'm awake again

[Brandon]

Jun 29, 2010 21:29:11 GMT -5 Borak said:

I like the direction you have taken with this compared to the last itteration i saw (a fantasy world of various monkey/ape men and beasts)

i think combining the Agori concept with the Mollusc concept was a good move, so was re-introducing the human race. it give the lay person a familiar launch point from which to suspend thier disbelief

I had a similar thought. I used to be a bit bored by humans, but the more I study our nature, the more interesting it becomes. I think the human reaction to the agoori is one of the most interesting parts of my world.

there are a few gaps that need addressing and one or two bits that don't make much sense (like the Agori food section) but it's certainly well on it's way

Yeah. I do need to flesh out a bit. Develop major characters, world leaders, ect. Could I ask what about the agori food section did not make sense. Obviously with these things what makes sense in my head and what I type are completely different.

[Borak]

It's the whole 'eats a fungus that grows on/from thier own bodies and are therefore self sustaining' thing

there's this important principle in physics called 'conservation of energy' which states that energy cannot be created or destroyed only changed from one form to another. that includes the chemical energy stored in foodstuffs. it would be utterly impossible for the Agori to be self sustaining. they might have innovative ways of limiting unwated energy loss (like the tendons on a kangaroos legs help it achieve maximum speed with minimum expenditure of energy) and may be able to sustain them selves for a time but ultimately they would need a source of additional energy/food

[Brandon]

A very good point. And the ambrosia is a different organism, but symbiotic. I will probably make them cannibalistic as well, but only situational. And perhaps they eat what we consider food, but it makes them sick. For example they sustain themselves on the ambrosia for an extended period of time (will probably add a slow metabolism to the list) when they start to degenerate, the examine their fellow agoori and see who is more important for the survival of their kind.

So for example; there is a 'warrior' type agoori who is defending his home. Along with a 'tower' agoori. (as they can shape themselves into buildings). The warrior agoori burns more energy fighting and uses up his ambrosia's usefulness. The warrior examines the tower and sees it as unfit for survival (and an easy target) and devours it. And as I understand; new matter has to come from somewhere, and a completely cannibalistic creature would not work. But for now, my fluff focuses on what humans know/speculate. Which is not a lot at the moment.

After all we can fill a book with everything humans know, and a library with everything we do not.

[Borak]

It could be that the ambrosia organism absorbs and alters alien protiens from the agori tissue it grows on to form a substance capable of a form of photosynthesis. maybe the abrosia could live separate from the agori if needs be but if it does it behave more like a normal fungus, mould or bacterial plaque, breaking down organic matter for energy. it is only when in sybiosis with the agori that it can make the photosynthetic agets and really thrive.