Introduction
Dionaea, Diona for singular, are sentient plant-like (note, not actually plants) creatures that have a three-stage life process: seed, nymph, and ‘adult’. Seeds grow into diona nymphs, which eventually evolve into adults. They are not a race meant for scientific experimentation, and killing one is considered to be murder.
Of note, while nymphs born from seeds are not legally recognized as a person, and thus not counted as murder, adolescents and beyond gestalts are granted sapient rights, as are the nymphs spawned from their separation.
A gestalt is a gathering, or grouping of dionaea, which operate in unison, typically in a fashion that represents something of a hive-mind to an outside perspective. Given the relative difference in size and their own personal definitions, the space community has come to call the larger-sized gestalts ‘Choir’s, a terminology that meshes well with the ‘Chorus’ of gestalts and nymphs that make them up.
While Dionaea is the most common term for them, several other scientific monikers have arisen, such as Spectraphage, called as such for the wide varieties of radiation they are capable of eating, and Doonai, Doon for singular. A jokingly friendly style term, some go so far as to modify it with an additional ‘o’ every decade.
Biology
Physicality
Dionaea for the most part don’t ‘breathe’ in any sense. They sometimes intake and expel gasses as a means of discharging waste and assisting in internal cooling, but they have no dedicated exchange membranes or respiratory channels. They don’t have a central circulatory system either, instead using capillary action within the segments of their bodies to move fluids and nutrients around (similar to many plants). Their nervous system is underdeveloped and decentralized, with the neural matter of the component dionaea merging into a complex strata of tissue that can often take up many cubic meters of space. For this reason, the larger a diona becomes, the slower it will think, but the larger its information processing capacity will become.
Dionaea are immune to the pressures and temperatures of space, including that of the stars they inhabit, capable of soaking up most if not all forms of radiation as food. Further, due to the gestalt nature, Dionaea adults have a theoretically unlimited lifespan, barring external hostile pressures. An individual nymph’s lifespan is limited to the chemicals and resources they’re born with, from the Gestalt or pod plant, and they live until the resources are used up or their means for processing them wear out. On average, this could be a few days, but potentially far longer if they find methods to feed and restore said resources. An individual nymph is a fairly transient creature, akin to a cell.
Dionaea don’t have DNA. Their precise means of storing reproductive information is unknown to modern science but does not match any currently known form of cellular life. Dionaea are cell-based, but their cells are very large (visible to the naked eye), fibrous, and lack distinct nuclei. Every diona is physically and functionally identical to any other, barring acquired injuries and conditioned behaviors or attitudes.
Skrell research has sketched a rough picture of how the diona clusters function. Much like all earth life, dionaea maintain complex systems of internal flora and fauna. The gestalts are host to virus-like symbiotes that take complex molecules apart into their components and recombine them into useful forms. Over time, these strains have diverged and mutated, serving the dionaea choirs as a means for disassembling and manipulating genetic material within the depths of the mass. The tremendous distributed processing power of a large choir combined with a means of controlling these strains allows for the examination and archival of the material.
The gestalts themselves maintain a state analogous to the diploid state of cell development. They are reproductively viable at this time, spawning new nymphs and maintaining their own mass by synthesizing more growth and food. Nymphs are analogous to haploid cells, only becoming viable for growth when merged with other dionaea. Station-grown nymphs are distinct from this (reproductively viable due to a single nymph) due to extensive conditioning developed by Skrell scientists and applied to the ‘seed’ nodules by volunteering gestalts. For this reason, such wandering dionaea tend not to form single gestalts, preferring to merge with other masses from other spawning sites to maintain ‘genetic’ viability. All gestalts will normally contain at least one member from a choir as a means of transferring the molecule-parsing viruses into the new mass.
A Choir is structured in several layers. The topmost and thinnest is for the most part ridged and finned for heat dissipation and signalling via Rootspeak. Below this is a layer of ‘flesh’ and cavities in which nymphs move and thrive, as well as gas and matter storage analogous to fat in animals. The neural strata and nutrient capillaries are spread throughout this layer and several dedicated layers below it. Between the neural strata and the outer husk lies a layer of cavities and tissue responsible for maintaining the radiation-harvesting blisters dotting the diona underside. The blisters are iridescent meter-wide bubbles of layered crystalline material that absorb several wide varieties of radiation for use in photosynthesis. The layer surrounding them is a combination of dead, hard diona-flesh, harvested rock, and synthesized ‘filler’ intended to absorb heat and hold the Choir together.
Nymph Subtypes
Nymphs are a common sight on spaceborne installations, as the occasional pest, or hitch-hiker on a shuttle. Less common, but still present, are Nymphs who make their way to planets. Lacking any method to return to space, Dionae stuck grounded may form close knit communities, with a majority of the individuals remaining as nymphs, tending to sizable gardens, as the species innate drive to catalog expands to the gene lines of plants, and even more rarely, animals.
These Nymph gardens are tended by, as the name suggests, Nymphs! They can grow quite expansive, but are very fragile- the piles of rich soil in otherwise inhospitable terrain are formed from the bodies of perished Nymphs, and are easily dispersed- running through such a garden can cause significant setback, if not irreparable damage, and will likely earn the rare ire of the Nymph!
While specific pressures may cause other subtypes to appear, the major distinctions can be generally grouped into a few categories. These ‘Evolutions’ are really just excess Biomass put to better use to help survival, and at their core, the standard Nymph we all love and hate is chirping away under the hardened material.
Crowned Crowned nymphs are survivors. Called as such due to a defensive spine growth off the head. At the harsh cost of now being unsuited for headpats, Crowned nymphs hide in dangerous locations, and will issue warnings about the dangers of their surroundings. The spines are incapable of being used for offense, but will automatically retaliate when struck in melee, and they’re unappetizing to predators.
Crowned Nymphs are very much about as intelligent as their uncrowned kin- in fact, the extra memory and ability to speak the warning is held within the spines. This evolution thus typically comes from the fading memory of whatever killed the greater being that the Nymph came from, the extra biomass sourced from the rest of it’s dead or dying body.
Or maybe it’s just spiteful that the botanist sprayed it with Pest-B-Gone once.
They come in several sharp, and not so sharp flavors, and if you happen to see one, do yourself a favor: Listen to what the poor little thing has to say, but don’t try and touch it!
Harvester Harvester Nymphs are frequently seen tending to intricate Nymph Gardens. Slow, bloated little things, they are nymphs who’ve dedicated themselves to helping others in the garden, and are the only commonly known type to be able to easily supply valuable water to the growing plants! Carrying liquids in fragile ‘blisters’, and funneling them in and out of a crude proboscis, these Nymphs have shown exceptional capability to encourage plant growth.
They’re also the only sort of Nymph seen to blow ‘Bubbles’, made of fragile Biomass. These are small-sized storage containers for liquids, perfect for moving around by the Nymphs. They are easily adaptable for use on a wider scale, however, with small bubbles being novel pill replacements, and large ones filled with gasses serving as either balloons or air tanks!
Ambusher One of the most common adaptations of Nymph, These sport several methods that help the Dionae with their usual objectives- from being able to stick better to spacecraft, to hiding in plain sight, to sporting sharper mouth-pieces to drain blood even through a hard suit!
Matriarch & Serfs Matriarches can almost hardly be considered subspecies of Nymph. The former just has a lot of extra baggage, and bosses around other nymphs, while the latter is so used to being bossed and working together, that it takes a long time before it can start being a nuisance on its own again!
Still, most major powers have agreed that Matriarches are generally worthy of attributions granted to Gestalts and other sentient beings, as a courtesy rather than hard law. This is on account of them only being found in the presence of larger Dionae instances, and desperately hold the remnants of communal memory within the extra weight they bear.
Choir only subtypes
Sometimes referred to as ‘Adult’ or ‘mature’ Gestalts, Choirs have a great deal of forms simply not seen elsewhere! From nymphs, all the way to recently categorized Soliloquy, these ‘evolutions’ help the Choir operate and interact with other species!
While there are plenty of Nymphs to help haul things, Hauler nymphs are even better at it than most! They can drag large objects, even full lockers! The cost of this, however, is steep- The little creatures don’t have much in the way of lifespan, or endurance. They’re prone to perishing simply by being picked up! If you see one, be kind- leave them alone.
Catalyst, Hazer, and Torrent Nymphs may all look similar, and in fact, are very close relatives to the Harvester! But these Nymphs serve a noble, if not sad, purpose- One of the few lines of defense the Choir seems interested in maintaining, these Nymphs are full of chemicals they haul around, and, if the need is great, they won’t hesitate to put them to use for the greater good! If you’ve ever had a room on a Choir suddenly fill with pepper spray when a fight broke out, it was a Hazer Nymph, sacrificing its health to follow the rules we asked of it by the people who trade with it!
Katamari also have their own variants only seen in close proximity to a Choir- affectionately called a Damacy, these resemble more like a hampster ball with a Nymph inside than the typical rolling tumbleweed of Dionae one might know a Katamari to be - but this is simply the Choir being efficient with command to power! Damacy can be seen harvesting down passing rocks and hauling things that need to be placed faster, or with more obstructions than a Hauler can Handle, and they can carry more weight to boot!
And finally, we have the last one: the Soliloquy. While it appears to simply be a short Gestalt, in truth, it’s a very tall Nymph! The body is mostly hollow, and it can’t carry very much, or go very far from the Choir- but they have impressive dexterity! Seeing several at work unpacking and sorting crates feels a bit like watching a puppet show.
Mentality
Dionae are highly curious, intelligent (if slow), and passive. They feel pain of a sort, though in a very different manner to humans, but are only able to emulate emotion. An ‘adolescent’ diona will generally take on observed traits of the entities around it as a side-effect of the instinctive information-gathering and hoarding that each diona conducts.
They have no concept of personal or mental space, and those who are new to human culture tend to be excessively touchy-feely or invasive of privacy.
While the only dionaea contacted so far have existed in the upper atmosphere of gas planets and the photosphere of stars, the gestalts have made oblique references to ‘deep dwellers’ that live within the surface of the stars themselves. Such a state makes them impossible to contact with conventional transmissions, and no pattern or encoding has been detected in the emissions from the system; it is unclear if the gestalts still exist or if they ever existed at all.
History
Origin System
Dionaea’s ‘origin’ system is lost to time. Any individual adult Dionae is compromised of sources from many many places, including back-and-forth transferal between Choirs in distant stars. Due to the nature of following stellar winds to send nymphs grand distances, it is very difficult to determine which specific star system they came from, though many scientific bodies have theories. Charting said paths and currents, along with estimations on how said flows changed over time, has provided rough, and inconclusive ideas of where the original system was, or is.
Homeworld
Likewise, as an entirely spacefaring species, the Dionaea have no home planet, or indeed, any planet that could be considered entirely under the occupation of the Dionaea. Stars, on the other hand, are frequent hotspots for Dionaea, and are usually uncontested in their occupation. Such occupation is either in some distance of orbit, to any degree of closeness to the sun. The deepest contact that has successfully been made is within the photosphere of a sun, but many Choirs say that further gestalts live deeper within, though no contact has been made with such.
History
Diona do not keep a history in the same sense that we do, and the various gestalt groups each have their own notation of history. Though they were once far more difficult to find, with assistance from other space-fairing species the nymphs have spread far and wide across known, and likely unknown, space. With the standard lifecycle, gestalt superstructures are slow in spread, but persistent in growth. Nymphs from gestalt that decided upon the destination, or even longer generational chains showing as they deem their accumulated knowledge means that when a choice of spreading is made it is much less a matter of ‘if’ rather than ‘when’, as they slowly filter in over hundreds of generations. While keeping a particular unestablished spot free of them isn’t innately difficult, most of the more understanding gestalts leave for a different destination upon being asked, it is simply a matter of attrition. What history they do keep is that of their favorite: Archived decoded molecules and materials is a favored form of record keeping and interest.
Current Racial Status/Government
Dionaea have nothing resembling government. They speak about the chorus or song of a group in the same manner that one would talk about teamwork or membership in a group.
Notable Racial Factions/Entities
The Diona can be vaguely categorized into a few groups, though none are of opposing factions. The Nymphs, the Katamari, the Gestalts, and the Choir. Independent nymphs are generally regarded as low intelligence, While Katamari, which is an in between point of gestalts, and nymphs, are several nymphs who have gathered into a communally cooperative mass, actively seeking other nymphs. The communal knowledge at this point is smarter than the sum of its parts. Upon reaching a sufficient number of Nymphs, the Katamari will soon transform into an adolescent Gestalt. Gestalts are considered properly sentient if not more than a touch slow. With enough time, learning, and opportunity, the adolescent will move to a point determined by its nymphs or external pressures, and merge with other adolescents, to form a Choir, or join an already existing Choir, with these Choirs forming the final category, of Dionae who are now too large to effectively operate at a crew-level.
Technological Advancements as Understood by NanoTrasen
NT maintains a good working relationship with the gestalts, exchanging star maps, planetary settlement rights, and bluespace comms and FTL engines for various services, and many of the younger Diona have actually formed their bodies around starship components and hab modules to enable them to journey across all manner of inhabited systems. Their technological advancements seem to be entirely relegated to tech that they’ve caught drifting, traded for, been gifted, or stumbled upon. Most technology is unnecessary for Dionaea life, and thus recreation of it is only so useful as its purpose is interacting with other intelligent species. However, their ability to reconstruct genetic matter, and molecule-parsing ability, combined with the supercomputer power of the larger Choirs has several notable implications.
Culture
Life as a Diona
To skip the question of what came first, the Gestalt or the Nymphs, we start our branch of Dionae life as a nymph. This variety of which come from the stellar drifting nymphs, scattered like dandelion seeds from the Choirs. These nymphs cling to, and infiltrate ships, stations, asteroids, and anything else they encounter. usually feasting off of the engine radiation, getting caught up in vending machines, and attempting to learn about anything they can. Many will die, disposed of as if a pest, or suffering some variety of misfortune in pursuit of learning. The ones who survive will eventually meet with either an adolescent gestalt, and be incorporated, or, in our case, meet with nymphs, strays, and survivors from other Choirs, or perhaps even nymphs grown from the seeds commonly found on a ship or station. Two nymphs, amicable to merging, will form a Katamari, sacrificing the advantages of the small individual size for that of strength in numbers, rolling about, collecting interesting things, and other willing nymphs, growing in size. These Katamari can be very unstable, as the nymphs are not fully in tune with each other’s wills, and a separation of interest can result in the dispersal into individual nymphs, into separate katamari, or simply rolling back and forth, or even in circles, as each tries to follow it’s individual will. Upon reaching a critical mass, however, a feat only usually performed by a group of nymphs that has managed to cooperate, they will have the ability to become a gestalt adolescent. Fresh adolescents are still prone to the separation and division of interest that the Katamari suffer, but the greater volume and processing power usually means that they are capable of working a system that will evolve until eventually, the whole mass becomes an unmistakably singular entity, with all the same shared memories and learning.
Once this stage is reached, even upon later separation, which is possible at any point in a Gestalt’s life, the separate entities resulting from the split are more akin to copies of the original. Forcefully separated adolescent gestalts, (into Nymph components) can usually re-merge into the same adolescent, given the time to katamari and recover. From here, depending on the surroundings, the adolescent may take up a position as crew on a ship, or any number of things, learning, growing, and improving.
Language
While smaller Dionaea are capable of vocalizing languages from all manner of other races, thanks to their fluid form, they tend to do so in a monotone or as a series of heavy bass rumbles or grinds. They come across as very slow and not very smart in Siik’tajr due to the relative slowness of their ‘ear’ and ‘tail’ growths but communicate very well in Sinta’unathi. They cannot speak Skrellian at all due to the pitch variations required.
Their own language, colloquially called Rootsong, is based predominantly on the emission of radio and heat waves and as such is very very difficult to speak without several hundred kilograms of specialized machinery. Luckily, a diona nymph can harvest the rudiments of language from blood samples and communication is rarely an issue.
Due to the gestalt nature of the Dionaea, frequent difficulty in the ‘I’ verses ‘We’, depending on the learning they acquire.
Naming Conventions
They do not have names as such, and when asked for one by other races will often supply an excessively long and poetic description of a memory they consider fundamental to their makeup ex. ‘the spatter of starlight across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the planetsong’. This has been known to make Heads of Personnel need to go have a lie down when filling out ID cards.
Religion
Dionaea have a somewhat strained relationship with religion. As a standard, they do not have one of their own, though they are more than capable of following one if they learn of such during their travels. Due to their nature among the celestial bodies, there has been attribution to the ‘starspawn’, with reason. The larger gestalts do not tend to follow any specific religion, due to the vastly conflicted religious, or lack thereof, concepts they acquired from their parts. though they cannot be said to be unaccommodating of it, due to the significance it holds with some of their trading partners.
Relationships With Other Species
Dionaea are, for the most part, entirely peaceful and compatible with all known interstellar cultures. Their preferred habitat is completely uninhabitable, being in the upper reaches of a hellish inferno, and since they have little to no use for money and a fondness for interaction with other intelligent races, they serve as excellent emergency berths for ships lost in unfriendly and underpopulated space. However, less socialized Dionae, typically nymphs, may exhibit aggressive behavior depending on what they’ve learned. Choirs will occasionally have Gestalts specifically practiced at communicating and interpreting, as nymph-to-nymph communication can be done far faster with Rootsong- converting response times from the most massive of gestalts from potentially days to hours.
Humanity: Humankind and the various numerous subspecies tend to view the Dionaea as a largely harmless, but fairly invasive, issue. 'Domesticated' Gestalts can be useful, because they will encyst your supermatter drive, becoming a self-maintaining power source that you can also play scrabble with, but the more feral ones happily clog up your thrusters to feed on the output. The Vox: Diona and Vox are frequently found in a position of cautious apathy. Due to the learning of Diona, a specific gestalt's opinion is likely to be similar to that of the group they learned from, though as with others they tend to a more 'innocent' view. However, the tendancy for stray nymphs to go missing leads to somewhat strained relations, especially in areas with the larger gestalts, who's communication methods have mapped a relation between a lack of presence, and hungry vox. However, due to the Vox's spaceborn status, Dionae stations can prove useful as a docking point when far from a familiar shoal. The Skrell: Dionaea and the Skrell have several scientific and exploratory contracts, and at least one Diona gestalt has converted itself to a a very notable skrellian exploration vessel, forming many of the key functions of the ship. The Unathi: are for the most part uninvolved with the Dionaea due to their relative lack of space travel, but some adherents of various reforestation religions on Moghes consider the creatures as proof that if the heart of a sodding SUN can support life, the sand wastes are certainly up for it. The Teshari: Find some kinship amongst the gestalt nature of the Diona, drawing corrolation with the pack nature the Teshari have. Likewise, the amicablility of trading, and useful nature of the station-grade gestalts means that wandering packs and fleets can frequently be found interacting with them in space.
Nymph relations
While Nymphs are, perhaps rightfully, considered pests first and foremost, what with getting underfoot, blocking up engine outputs, turning easy-to-clean messes into potentially radioactive tar, and taking unsolicited blood samples! But they also have their place in space life and deserve to be considered. For one, they’re cute! So what if beauty is in the eye of the beholder? They behold you just fine, and think you’re interesting! Can’t really beat that!
But, if that’s not enough for you, they have practical uses, too. As any gardener who has seen one in action will attest, if you keep a good eye on your crops when they’re grown, a Nymph can save you a lot of trouble! They’ll naturally be attracted to trays with pests and weeds in them, consuming the lesser pests, and, as a courtesy, re-fill the nutrition of the tray!
They’re also a blessing for unfortunate Miners and Engineers alike- due to their adoration for radiation, they will follow individuals who’ve been affected- A far faster warning than a Geiger counter that might not even be present. What’s more, if you’re calm and collected, they’ll start sucking radiation off of you, including deadly contaminants that might otherwise endanger your fellow crewmates on your way to the medbay! You should probably head there instead of waiting for the Nymphs to save you, though, because while they’ll slowly make the radiation less lethal, that same radiation is probably actively killing you.
Did I mention they make great hats? Because they do. What’s more, they’ll still work on grooming you of Radiation while you wear them! It won’t be as effective as if you’re standing next to them, or better yet, laid out so they can get all over you, but it can help make the difference! Plus, their adorable little bodies will absorb the stray bump! They’re really not that durable, though, so watch your head, lest you end up with splatted Nymph for a hair dye.
Speaking of splatted Nymphs- Who would have guessed that they don’t like seeing other Nymph’s blood and gore? If you’re absolutely sick of them being around you, having a corpse on your head, or fresh blood on your hands will send all the nymphs running in absolute terror of you- you psychopath.
Inter-choir relations
While distant choirs can communicate via rootsong, especially high-value communications, as well as any physical objects that need delivering, are typically sent in what is colloquially known as a ‘Dionae Comet’;
A small biomass structure, filled with materials that have interesting sequences to the Dionae. Meant to fly to another choir somewhere- these ‘comets’ are easy pickings for anyone looking for possibly valuable materials. However, as these materials have already been sequenced by the Dionae, one must be careful to process them somehow, as the gestalts do not take kindly to pirates attempting to directly sell them their own belongings.
While Choirs recognize the difference between groups over an area of space, such differences do not typically survive direct contact. Exceptions do occur, like with smaller choirs who have taken to working with other species coming into contact with a larger mass, but for the most part, any two choirs making physical contact will inevitably merge into a single, larger choir.
Dionae self defence
Dionae are not known to be fighters. Given their lack of emotion, they’re not known to be lovers, either, though if you show one enough romance flicks, they might try! Respect the poor Nymph who draws the short straw, and must ‘Hail to the King’.
But they are not without their limits. While Nymphs flee from other dead Nymphs, and the Gestalts and Choirs understand that the smallest amongst them are pests, they are peaceful; not pacifists. And as the saying goes, if you’re not capable of great violence, you’re not peaceful: you’re harmless. Lengthy, and I do mean lengthy, as Choirs rarely get to the point about anything, conversations have given us insight into how the Dionae view combat.
The easiest way to phrase it is that they regret that it must happen- they regret the death, on both sides and would take every chance they can to avoid lasting harm. It is upon these principles that the rare Dionae who find themselves in security positions operate: They can prevent lasting harm by using the proper tools and making sure everyone follows the rules that might lead to someone being hurt. But, sometimes, one simply cannot avoid fighting. Be it pirates, the ones who get too brazen with trying to get bribes, or Wild spacefaring animals, the Choirs learn, as the Dionae do, of the aggression of their attackers and retaliate with measured reactions. They refer to this as their ‘Lament’, a term settled upon after great consideration.
The first line of defense is, as they are wont to do, a deterrent. Light radiation bursts cause discomfort and sickness, and frequently, when combined with the rock-hard exteriors of the Choir, capable of becoming abrasive and crushing, this is enough to fend off smaller creatures. When this fails, the frequent next step is to throw rocks- or at least, sharpened bits of Biomaterial, sometimes filled with radioactive, or poisonous chemicals, in the hopes of scaring off or incapacitating, creatures.
But space is not just filled with small and medium animals.
For larger beasts or fighter craft, Nymphs with the proper compounds may be launched into space, sometimes with tethers to function as a brake, to create a ‘minefield’- which will cling to the intruder, adding mass, and slowing them down. These nymphs can also be laden with chemicals to combine, causing explosions. Some captains say that Choirs will also intentionally send Nymphs at passing shuttles, or have deep space screens of the creatures to clog up ship engines to make them a slower target for the Dionae’s last resort.
Dubbed the Lament Lance, this enormous structure is built deep within the cores of Choirs who’ve found themselves harassed by sufficiently distant hostiles who refuse to let them be; and it takes quite some persistence, for a Dionae will offer many chances for peace and forgiveness before it accepts that there can be only one resolution. Formed by a multi-segmented rigid structure formed from Biomaterial, and powered by radiation, it can only be described as an amplifier for the Dionae’s communal language, Rootsong- where the Choir itself sings its sorrows towards its aggressors, shooting a staggeringly precise lance of Radiation at the target. While the exact metrics of this weapon are unknown, the devastation reliant on both how much the Choir thinks is needed, and the size of the Lance (and by extension, the Choir), it is more than capable of blasting through shields, melting through hulls, irradiating everything in it’s path.
Survivors claim to have heard the rootsong itself in the blast, inflicting terror from the rage of countless voices screaming in unison, though the overwhelming depression felt has since been attributed to sudden organ failure from the radiation. It is only fortunate that the size of the structure means it is limited in how well the Choir can aim it- and that it is only as mobile as the massive Dionae are. While examples of this exist in smaller choirs as a fixed weapon, such implements are limited to being aimed in the direction they are built while under gravity.
Rumors and Speculation
Diona is only the most ubiquitous name due to an unfortunate misunderstanding during first contact where an unsocialized Gestalt ‘drank a xenobotanist like a wild cherry Capri Sun’. Other rumors mostly involve ‘Deep ones’, dionae who live deep within stars, and apparently thrive.
OOC Notes
Etiquette Guide for Dionea
While you can split into individual nymphs, and might indeed wish to do so to sate some degree of curiosity, it is considered an exhaustive process, and generally slightly unfavorable. If you are playing as a katamari, or freshly merged adolescent, try to cooperate somewhat with your team! You’re in this together, after all. Understand that individual nymphs are usually considered pests. You can lament their loss, but unless they came from you, or another dionae in a division, they’re basically animals, even if controlled by players. Try not to be too much of a nuisance.
Important Racial Terminology
Nymph: A singular Dionae, usually not far out from being a seed.
Katamari: A group of nymphs, typically 2-5 strong, in a ball-ish mass.
Gestalt/Adolescent: The typical Dionae crew member. A mass of nymphs and support structure grown to facilitate learning.
Choir/Adult: The stage after adolescence, where the gestalt merges into a larger structure that thinks too slowly due to its size then can qualify for an average person.
Chorus: a fanciful name the Dionae use to refer to adolescent and adult Dionae, due to all the nymphs sounding in harmony with their Rootsong.
Deep Ones: A theoretical gestalt that lives deep within a star. Far too deep to converse with unless you are a Choir, and the existence of which is only confirmed in rumor and the word of dionae.
‘Evolution’: Not strictly speaking evolving into a new form, as much as it’s a Nymph putting on a hardhat and grabbing a toolbelt that it’s capable of using.
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Author: TheKnightofAura
Galactic Species
| |
| Common Species | Humans, Synthetics, Skrell, Tajara, Teshari, Unathi |
| Uncommon Species | Akula, Alraune, Auril, Dremachir, Naramadi, Zaddat, Dnin-Nepids |
| Whitelisted Species | Adherent, Dionea, Phoronids, Proteans, Shadekin, Vox, Xenochimera, Xenohybrids |
| Misc Species & Data | Minor Races, Scori, Changelings |