CELLQUEST: RIP in Piece [DEAD due to inactive host]

[Aabcehmu]

I agree with Wess and volnrok and vote for C.

[Kíeros]

> Analyse deeper.

[Sam B]

Act:

You decide to go check out the unusual plants anyway, since nothing else is currently drawing your attention. When you get closer the the plants start giving off a faint glow which you find strangely captivating, but you're still feeling very cautious about things that seem attractive after that very recent incident up at the ice. Other than their strange luminescent properties, you can't really sense any specific details about the plants, except for the fact that they are definitely, probably NOT delicious and you probably shouldn't be messing with them at all.

Being in the slightly less freezing water has fully restored your temporarily stunted mobility, and you're starting to feel a bit hungry again. Not for plants, though. Bleh. The soil around here seems the same as anywhere else, but you'd really prefer something a little more... solid.

You have 5 DNA Pt(s)

What do you do?

A) Go out and look for food.
B) Throw caution to the wind and touch the pretty glowing plant.
C) Explore someplace else.
D) Other: ___________________

Stats:

Homeworld: Aros.
Name: Eletus.
Traits: Annelid, Bilateral Symmetry.
Appearance: Faded blue; Long, slender, segmented body with a pair of thin keratin blades on your back; Pair of red stigma on sides of head and a mouth between them.
Environment: Shallow ocean waters (primarily coastlines, close to the ice-crust)
Behavior: Cautious, curious, and defensive. Typically stays within the safety of a colony.
Diet: Geovore.
Belly: 40%
Size: 4.5; Less than 5 centimeters long.
SNS: 1.2; Able to sense light from a slight distance; Cannot hear; Able to sense chemicals around you.
MOB: 4.5; You move normally for your size, and can swim at a moderate pace.
INT: 5; You have a basic brain and nervous system.
ATK: 2.5; You have a well-developed mouth and dangerous Dorsal-Blades on your back.
DEF: 2.5; You have a thick C-Plate and a pair of Dorsal-Blades, deterring predators.
HP: 25/25

Abilities:

--Active--
-Bud Off: Split your body into multiple organisms. Divides Belly by number of organisms. Temporarily reduces stats to a fraction of what they really are.
-Disgorge: Vomit some of the contents of your belly with mild force. Effectiveness increases with a larger Belly %. Divides current Belly by half.
-Charge: A short burst of speed in any direction, can be used offensively. (-30% Belly)

--Passive--
-Segmented: Receive a DNA discount when increasing your size.
-Cephalize: Evolve sensory organs at reduced cost on your "head".
-Geophagy: Gain extra DNA from soil and similar materials.
-Regen: Recover HP at a constant rate. Belly drops faster than normal when more than a third of your HP is gone.

[Kíeros]

> Adventure to satiate your stomach.

[Aabcehmu]

I agree with Kíeros, and vote for A. Food's important, especially for DNA, since there are some holes in our current st up that could do with being closed.

[Knight_of_Hide]

D: Find the closest Hermit Crab and eat it whole.

[ComiTurtle]

An Admirable Adventure Awaits!

[Wessolf27]

Well, since everyone's already going for it, let's do A

[Sam B]

Act:

Leaving the glowing plant behind, you set about searching the outskirts of the reef for something decent to eat. You swim and search for what feels like a pretty long time, but find nothing other than sand and animals. Maybe another Eletus colony has already picked this area clean, or perhaps it was a school of those damn Masked Seatrouts. Whatever the reason, this location is barren as can be for a geovorous creature such as yourself. You eat a little bit of blue sand to keep from starving to death, but it yields a mere 2 DNA Pts and leaves you far less than satisfied.

If you want to get a decent meal it seems you'll have to look elsewhere. Maybe travel to some deeper waters where you're more likely to find some uneaten rock deposits or other rare treats. Or you could try hunting some creatures with edible parts like Rockshell Hermit Crabs or something, though you'll have to be careful not to eat any of their meaty bits (well, no more than a little) by accident or you might get ill.

You have 7 DNA Pt(s)

What do you do?

A) To deeper waters! Where no Eletus has gone before! (probably)
B) Hunt down some delicious little hermit crabs. Or rather, some delicious little hermit crab shells.
C) Keep searching this area! There's got to be SOMETHING around here...
D) Other: ___________________

Stats:

Homeworld: Aros.
Name: Eletus.
Traits: Annelid, Bilateral Symmetry.
Appearance: Faded blue; Long, slender, segmented body with a pair of thin keratin blades on your back; Pair of red stigma on sides of head and a mouth between them.
Environment: Shallow ocean waters (primarily coastlines, close to the ice-crust)
Behavior: Cautious, curious, and defensive. Typically stays within the safety of a colony.
Diet: Geovore.
Belly: 60%
Size: 4.5; Less than 5 centimeters long.
SNS: 1.2; Able to sense light from a slight distance; Cannot hear; Able to sense chemicals around you.
MOB: 4.5; You move normally for your size, and can swim at a moderate pace.
INT: 5; You have a basic brain and nervous system.
ATK: 2.5; You have a well-developed mouth and dangerous Dorsal-Blades on your back.
DEF: 2.5; You have a thick C-Plate and a pair of Dorsal-Blades, deterring predators.
HP: 25/25

Abilities:

--Active--
-Bud Off: Split your body into multiple organisms. Divides Belly by number of organisms. Temporarily reduces stats to a fraction of what they really are.
-Disgorge: Vomit some of the contents of your belly with mild force. Effectiveness increases with a larger Belly %. Divides current Belly by half.
-Charge: A short burst of speed in any direction, can be used offensively. (-30% Belly)

--Passive--
-Segmented: Receive a DNA discount when increasing your size.
-Cephalize: Evolve sensory organs at reduced cost on your "head".
-Geophagy: Gain extra DNA from soil and similar materials.
-Regen: Recover HP at a constant rate. Belly drops faster than normal when more than a third of your HP is gone.

[Kíeros]

> Antiascend.

[Wessolf27]

B but juuuussst a little bit. Don't wanna kill these guys if we want to continue relying on them as sources of food.

[Knight_of_Hide]

Find the closest Hermit Crab and eat it. B

[volnrok]

B Locate a hermit crab and eat it, if not only for some variety.

[ComiTurtle]

Begin Biteing Bogus Bellyacher's Boardings.

[Mithanu]

B, oh yeah, gonna eat the clothing/shelter/protection of hermit crabs, because we're ****s(censored myself, because I wasn't certain of the appropriateness of posting swear words in this thread) like that.

[dragonpaul99]

B Enough of these dumb rocks, you need to get some meat on those bones. Go hunt the hermit crabs and eat all of them, meat and shells and all.

Geocarnivorism is way more rad anyways.

[Riou]

B Enough of these dumb rocks, you need to get some meat on those bones. Go hunt the hermit crabs and eat all of them, meat and shells and all.

Geocarnivorism is way more rad anyways.

I wholly support this action.

[Sam B]

Act:

Focusing your senses on finding some hermit crabs with delicious shells made of stone, you start scouring the reef once again. It takes a bit longer than you would have liked but you eventually find a small group of the little crustaceans picking away at a large, fresh corpse. You almost rush after them in hunger, but stop yourself when you detect the creatures responsible for the crab's easy meal: A school of omnivorous Feelerfish. There's quite a few of them, at least twice as many as the Eletus in your colony. They are patiently sharing their recent kill with each other as the hermit crabs stealthily eat away from below.

You really just want the crab shells and have no interest in stealing the fish carcass from those other, livelier fish, but you know they are very defensive of their food and will not hesitate to attack if you aren't careful around them. You will either have to figure out some way to get to the hermit crabs without the Feelerfish noticing, which is nigh impossible considering their substantial senses, or find a way to get one of the groups (crabs or fish) away from the corpse. The latter is clearly a better option, but you can't really think of any specific ways to accomplish it right this second.

A more reckless approach to this predicament would be to simply charge in and fight the Feelerfish with your colony, but those things can be pretty dangerous, especially in such large numbers. It would take some serious combat strategy and maybe a little luck to even stand a chance against them in a straight up confrontation, and most Eletus aren't capable of that kind of cunning, especially when being eaten alive by a bunch of horrible flagella-faced monsters.

You have 7 DNA Pt(s)

What do you do?

A) Attempt to sneak by and snatch up a few RHC* shells.
B) Attack the school of Feelerfish. (Select a method of attack)
C) Try to lure the Feelerfish away from their fresh kill. (Select a method of luring)
D) Try to lure the RHCs away from their ill-gotten meal. (See above)
E) Other: ___________________

Stats:

Homeworld: Aros.
Name: Eletus.
Traits: Annelid, Bilateral Symmetry.
Appearance: Faded blue; Long, slender, segmented body with a pair of thin keratin blades on your back; Pair of red stigma on sides of head and a mouth between them.
Environment: Shallow ocean waters (primarily coastlines, close to the ice-crust)
Behavior: Cautious, curious, and defensive. Typically stays within the safety of a colony.
Diet: Geovore.
Belly: 40%
Size: 4.5; Less than 5 centimeters long.
SNS: 1.2; Able to sense light from a slight distance; Cannot hear; Able to sense chemicals around you.
MOB: 4.5; You move normally for your size, and can swim at a moderate pace.
INT: 5; You have a basic brain and nervous system.
ATK: 2.5; You have a well-developed mouth and dangerous Dorsal-Blades on your back.
DEF: 2.5; You have a thick C-Plate and a pair of Dorsal-Blades, deterring predators.
HP: 25/25

Abilities:

--Active--
-Bud Off: Split your body into multiple organisms. Divides Belly by number of organisms. Temporarily reduces stats to a fraction of what they really are.
-Disgorge: Vomit some of the contents of your belly with mild force. Effectiveness increases with a larger Belly %. Divides current Belly by half.
-Charge: A short burst of speed in any direction, can be used offensively. (-30% Belly)

--Passive--
-Segmented: Receive a DNA discount when increasing your size.
-Cephalize: Evolve sensory organs at reduced cost on your "head".
-Geophagy: Gain extra DNA from soil and similar materials.
-Regen: Recover HP at a constant rate. Belly drops faster than normal when more than a third of your HP is gone.


*

show spoiler

hide spoiler

*Rockshell Hermit Crabs, in case you forgot.

Also, I'm considering throwing together a bestiary of sorts for the OP detailing all the creatures you've encountered so far, since it might be getting a little confusing with all these dumb made up names for alien creatures. Yay/nay?

Also also, I believe swearing is allowed on these forums, Mithanu. Who am I to stand in the way of rules?

[Aabcehmu]

We've taken down a group of feelerfish with only one other eletus to help us before, with only the wounds being recoverable. I vote for B, disgorging and slashing any feelerfish who are stunned.

[Wessolf27]

I'd say E having to deal with a group of feelerfish with our current abilities don't seem worthwhile. I suggest looking for rock corals instead.

Although... it would be better if we get a better idea on the number of Feelerfish to Eletus. Just to get a good idea of the odds.

Also, I say yea on the beastiary, it's going to be a useful reference.

[volnrok]

B.

Make sure we have some backup first. Eat some sand to load up for a disgorge. Slash one in the face with blades. Eat its skeleton. After all, calcium tastes like victory.

[Kíeros]

> Attempt to just sneak a few shells away from them. They won't mind, right?

[Knight_of_Hide]

I Choose You!

Method of Luring: Send a single Eletus from our colony to zip through the area and zip right back out, leading the Feelerfish on a merry goose chase. Then, move in with the other Eletus and chomp the RHC's.

[Sam B]

Act:

You come to the conclusion that violence is the only way to get these freaks away from your long sought-after crab shells. You load up on blue sand in preparation for a full-power Disgorge and gain a couple DNA Pts. You feel a bit slow being so full, but you know that feeling won't last once you spew out half your belly. The rest of your colony is smart enough to realize what's going on and follows your example, swimming down to the seafloor and filling their bellies up as well.

The other Eletus and you bravely rush into the hoard of Feelerfish and Disgorge all over the place, totally obscuring the immediate area with a thick but rapidly descending cloud of sand. The fish scatter around, trying to focus their unusual senses on you but having very little success in their efforts. The entire Eletus colony, yourself included, starts to swim back and forth between the clustered and bewildered fish, slashing away at their sensitive 'heads' and sending severed sensory tentacles out in all directions. The fight is intense, but does not last long, and soon the cloud has cleared and the casualties float dead in the water, leaving faint blood trails of green and yellowish-white.

In the chaos of battle, a single Eletus was killed. Whether by Feelerfish or accidental Dorsal-Blade slashing, you cannot tell. However, ultimately the school of fish stood little chance against your brutal assault, and only a scant few manage to escape with their lives. A few of the hermit crabs were scared off by all that activity going on above them, but several still remain and are feasting on the decaying corpse with much greater enthusiasm in wake of the Feelerfish's departure. They are yours for the taking (and eating), but you'd better hurry up and get on with it. You know the dangers of sitting around in bloody waters, and are not in the mood for another encounter with a dangerous predator.

You have 9 DNA Pt(s)

What do you do?

A) Reap the spoils. Eat the hermit crab shells.
B) Hunt down the crabs that fled instead.
C) Other: ___________________

Stats:

Homeworld: Aros.
Name: Eletus.
Traits: Annelid, Bilateral Symmetry.
Appearance: Faded blue; Long, slender, segmented body with a pair of thin keratin blades on your back; Pair of red stigma on sides of head and a mouth between them.
Environment: Shallow ocean waters (primarily coastlines, close to the ice-crust)
Behavior: Aggressive, curious. Typically stays within the safety of a colony.
Diet: Geovore.
Belly: 50%
Size: 4.5; Less than 5 centimeters long.
SNS: 1.2; Able to sense light from a slight distance; Cannot hear; Able to sense chemicals around you.
MOB: 4.5; You move normally for your size, and can swim at a moderate pace.
INT: 5; You have a basic brain and nervous system.
ATK: 2.5; You have a well-developed mouth and dangerous Dorsal-Blades on your back.
DEF: 2.5; You have a thick C-Plate and a pair of Dorsal-Blades, deterring predators.
HP: 25/25

Abilities:

--Active--
-Bud Off: Split your body into multiple organisms. Divides Belly by number of organisms. Temporarily reduces stats to a fraction of what they really are.
-Disgorge: Vomit some of the contents of your belly with mild force. Effectiveness increases with a larger Belly %. Divides current Belly by half.
-Charge: A short burst of speed in any direction, can be used offensively. (-30% Belly)

--Passive--
-Segmented: Receive a DNA discount when increasing your size.
-Cephalize: Evolve sensory organs at reduced cost on your "head".
-Geophagy: Gain extra DNA from soil and similar materials.
-Regen: Recover HP at a constant rate. Belly drops faster than normal when more than a third of your HP is gone.

[Mithanu]

I'm voting for B, whenever we've stuck around a scene of carnage before bad stuff has happened to us.