Wildlife

[Armok]

I'm not thinking anything as brute as locking them up, I'm thinking of unifying their natures or somehting.

[Doopliss]

> Try to think of other flaws in their coexistence

You will certainly keep your eye open, but none come immediately to mind.

Double back to that biologist from inquisition leadership. Have a bug scout his tent and his belongings first, while Mina gathers information about him from the soldiers. Name, former occupation, and residence would be enough to launch a proper investigation.

His bags don't reveal anything, so you take a more direct path to gathering information: Acting insanely suspicious of him and asking assorted soldiers and inquisitors if you remember him from somewhere. You should be well out of here by the time he has a chance at revenge, and it might make other people distrust him as well.
It seems like he's from a magic academy a few provinces away, and figured a force dedicated to looking for alien organisms could use an embedded biologist. He traveled quite a ways for it, too. It might be worth paying this academy a visit.


That seems like all the information you're going to get, so you take your leave. The inquisitors are sad to see you go, but they're understanding about it. Hanging out with fifty people who already know healing magic just isn't efficient.


You set off for a preplanned dustoff area. It'll be good to see A'zi again, if only for a little while.

Ask the fey about the viability of suppressing the heart of the forest, or preferably just its monsters.

"If the forest's heart is behind these monsters, could I somehow suppress it until the inquisitors leave?"


"It would harm us as much as it would the monsters, but if it's the only way..."

Could the monsters be turned, atleast temporarily, as docile/cooperative as the fey? That would open a lot of new possibilities.

"In that case I have a less tactful idea. My one real power is changing organisms to my will. If the forest's heart is a senseless thing, I could beat some sense into it. I could even revert it when the inquisitors leave, though it would make me very upset.

Please do not be offended."


"That would upset a lot of fey, but... I think they'd get over it quickly if our new neighbours were pleasant and friendly, and we did ask for your help in the first place."


"That is subversive of you."


"I want them dealt with, A'zi. We all do, even the isolationist ones who don't even speak your language."

[Armok]

> sounds good, go investigate it. Make some quick creture to keep in comunication wso you can ask more questions withoute going back in case you need to.

[chimericWilder]

Start slow with the monsters. That way, you can easier handle any unexpected problems that arise. Im betting there will be unexpected problems.

[Doopliss]

Start slow with the monsters. That way, you can easier handle any unexpected problems that arise. Im betting there will be unexpected problems.

You begin poking your way deeper into the forest. It seems like these creatures are just as eager to kill one-another as they are to kill you.


There is plenty of fighting to be had, especially taking it slowly. These ones destroy some of your biomass with their acidic bites, but none of them have been an actual threat.


The dissolving corpses lead here, and this thing certainly looks like a heart of the forest to you. Shall you move in?

[chimericWilder]

Certainly, but be cautious!

[Zolen]

Certainly, but be cautious!

yes

[Doopliss]

Certainly, but be cautious!

You wonder why there are no monsters in this clearing...


It can attack! It can attack!


Perhaps if you burrow under...


Aah! Your biomass!


If you enter that clearing, it looks like you should be ready for a fight.

[Gnauga]

You should probably absorb some of those trees to start.
Try a small tree-eating bug swarm, to suss out more of its defenses.

[chimericWilder]

You should probably absorb some of those trees to start.
Try a small tree-eating bug swarm, to suss out more of its defenses.

Sounds like a good idea, but refrain from destroying the tree for now, just start with the green growths on it.

[Zolen]

Throw the biomass from it into a creature as a test to see if this thing would be a hazard to simply absorb.

[Doopliss]

You should probably absorb some of those trees to start.

Biomass, biomass, biomass!


Well. You will not be moving anywhere quickly, but you are sure anything that wanders into your reach will be terrified.

Try a small tree-eating bug swarm, to suss out more of its defenses.

Attack termites away!


The ones that go for the growths are burned by acid, and quite a few of the others are skewered by spikes jutting out of the bark. On the bright side, the ones that do not get skewered seem to be gobbling the wood up with no problems. Maybe it is too distracted to stab them all at once?


The Heart sends out a telepathic call strong enough to give you a headache. You will have a lot of monsters to deal with if you do not finish this quickly.

[Gnauga]

More swarms! Give these faceted exoskeletons so the spikes glance off. Direct them all to skip the bark and go straight for the core wood. Also spawn some tunneling equivalents to attack the central roots. Generate some acidophilic termites (with exoskeletons to protect them on their way in) to attack and explore the acid growths. Eat more trees as needed to maintain biomass, and keep your distance as you pump out more termites.

Spawn some agile kiters/tankers. Medium to large creatures that can engage and distract a lot of monsters at once, so you can focus on the tree.

[Zolen]

Try to read its mind, if a tree can have a mind. Telepathic ability's normally are attached to higher minded intelligence not mindless beast.

[chimericWilder]

More swarms! Give these faceted exoskeletons so the spikes glance off. Direct them all to skip the bark and go straight for the core wood. Also spawn some tunneling equivalents to attack the central roots. Generate some acidophilic termites (with exoskeletons to protect them on their way in) to attack and explore the acid growths. Eat more trees as needed to maintain biomass, and keep your distance as you pump out more termites.

Spawn some agile kiters/tankers. Medium to large creatures that can engage and distract a lot of monsters at once, so you can focus on the tree.

This is excellent plan, provided that you work fast enough to execute it before the monster arrive. If you dont, just attack directly, try to topple the tree quickly.

[Doopliss]

More swarms! Give these faceted exoskeletons so the spikes glance off. Direct them all to skip the bark and go straight for the core wood. Also spawn some tunneling equivalents to attack the central roots. Generate some acidophilic termites (with exoskeletons to protect them on their way in) to attack and explore the acid growths. Eat more trees as needed to maintain biomass, and keep your distance as you pump out more termites.

Spawn some agile kiters/tankers. Medium to large creatures that can engage and distract a lot of monsters at once, so you can focus on the tree.

Yes, you will defeat this thing in true Hive Queen fashion!
Except you are almost out of souls. You would need to absorb some of your Broodfish and come back later tonight.

This is excellent plan, provided that you work fast enough to execute it before the monster arrive. If you dont, just attack directly, try to topple the tree quickly.

With the above in mind, I would love a tie-breaker between these two options.

[Aleisha]

Charge the tree!

[Neoskel]

Can we make swarmers which use the matter they eat to reproduce? That should address the soul problem. We could also try shooting spines directly at the thing from our main form, preferably with some sort of base/alkaline to neutralize that acid stuff.

[chimericWilder]

Perhaps you could use what few souls you have left to make a few larger-sized creatures, designed to be resistant to acid and spikes and to be capable of damaging the tree. Then attack together with them in whichever way makes sense. Projectiles is a good idea, but i dunno how effective that would be.

[hero122]

...Idea. Create some kind of Slime-esque Monster using Biomass that can cover the heart, because slimes are both acidic and liquid, they're already immune. Then, you can work on the heart personally.

[Doopliss]

Try to read its mind, if a tree can have a mind. Telepathic ability's normally are attached to higher minded intelligence not mindless beast.

So long as the heart is distracted by your attack termites, you think you will take a look at its mind. If it can send telepathic signals, maybe it can be communicated with.


No, it does not seem so. If anything this creature is dumber than the werewolves, who could at least understand something like "these people will kill you if you attack them". It can react somewhat creatively to fight against direct threats, but nothing more.
On the bright side, its telepathic defenses are not a high priority when energy is scarce, so roughing it up a bit should cause them to drop. With that in mind...

...just attack directly, try to topple the tree quickly.

Hnngh!


That was remarkably easy. Being a giant wingless dragon has its benefits.
You can do whatever you want to it now. It looks like this creature shoots off new life forms at a consistent pace, and the resulting creatures are very, very suggestible in their early stages. The creatures spawned inside the barrier quickly fall under its influence and become aggressive, attacking and feeding on any creatures that are not closely related (the heart is, of course, barely intelligent and has no purpose toward its actions). The creatures spawned outside the barrier are influenced by the outside fey, becoming the reasonably-gentle people you have been interacting with over the past six years.

So, if you alter the heart, the monsters here will be altered to match. You may even be able to replicate this sort of being if you study it for a while.

[redaeth]

Study it fully. Such a creature seems much like you and perhaps you can learn from it. As for altering it make it so the creatures spawned are more like the fey outside the barrier then the ferals

[Armok]

> Get more info before proceeding.

> Consider altering it so it does produce creatures similar to the fey... but biased strongly towards directions of your liking, like for example will to be assimilated and self modify.

[hero122]

>Figure out if the poison orbs on the heart are causing it to become aggressive, and the aggression is just not being aimed properly.
>Perhaps, Change the heart so that it is transparent, so you can see clearly what you can do to make it create less deadly monsters. Or at least, more pleasant acting ones.

[chimericWilder]

> Get more info before proceeding.

> Consider altering it so it does produce creatures similar to the fey... but biased strongly towards directions of your liking, like for example will to be assimilated and self modify.

This is a pretty good idea. Remember to keep in mind that you'll need some way of controlling them atleast partially so that you can later decide what course of action to take concerning the inquisition. Dont just make them your slaves, though.