From: Gareth Hanrahan [hanrahag@iol.ie] Sent: Monday, December 25, 2000 8:43 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Contribute to Blue Planet... > I would like to solicit from the list ideas for both organisms and ecozones. > Jeff Barber > Biohazard Games I'm not sure if these are too silly or what...comments? I didn't bother with stats... Aquatic Tumbleweed Opinion is somewhat divided on whether to classify this as a plant or animal. Aquatic Tumbleweeds resemble large, frail balls of seaweed floating on the surface of the ocean. When caught by the wind, they "skip" over the waves. They are commonly found in groups of 15-20 individual masses. They are generally about 0.5 metres in diameter, but much larger tumbleweeds have been seen. Behaviour: When being blown along by the wind, their longer outer tendrils are flicked deeper into the water. These fronds/tentacles contain small hooks stingers, and are very sticky. Small fish and insects are struck by these flailing tendrils, and slowly drawn up into the central mass for consumption. The tumbleweeds feed in a similar manner to Blimps, but are even more passive in their predations. The stingers of Tumbleweeds are generally no more dangerous to a human than a nettle sting would be, but severe allergic reactions have been observed in some people. Tumbleweeds are something of a navigation hazard in high winds, especially to vehicles without enclosed compartments. The pilot being hit by a tumbleweed in the face has led to the capsizing of more than one catamaran. ======================================== Rockbubblers "Polyps with attitude" was how one biologist described these creatures. Rockbubblers are small, fat, plant-like creatures about 10cm long, with three retractable planton-collecting tentacles. Beneath the tendrils, their bodies are divided into an upper egg-sac and a lower "chemical factory" in their base. They die when they reproduce, the rockbubbler exploding like a tiny volcano, shooting thousands of infants off into the water. These events normally cause feeding frenzies, although the toxic chemicals in each ‘bubbler infant mean that few fish can stomach more than ten or twelve at a time. Enough infants survive to continue the next generation. Behaviour: In their infant stage, they float freely in the shallow coastal waters, until they eventually anchor using their sticky bases on a rock or reef. They then immediately begin producing a powerful natural acid, which softens the rock (or breaks it up into tiny fragments). The bubbler then builds a "nest" of rock around its body, leaving only its tendrils exposed for feeding. As the bubbler grows, it melts and reforms more rock around it. Large rockbubblers essentially live in small rock funnels that armour their entire body. Rockbubblers have been known to attack some forms of bioplastic hull, attaching themselves to it and forming little cocoons of bioplastic around their fleshy bodies. This rarely causes hull breaches, but does weaken the surrounding structure. ================================= Killer Moths Medium-sized carnivores, Killer Moths resemble armour plated eels or worms. They have a vicious bite, with the disconcerting tendency to attack the extremities of their victim. Humans attacked by Killer Moths are in danger of having their fingers or noses targeted first. Behaviour: However, unarmoured humans are rarely attacked by Killer Moths. These fish live deep in the oceans, beyond the reach of sunlight. They prey on bioluminescent organisms, following their prey by the light given off. When they attack, they first tear off and devour the victim’s light-emitting organs, then finishing the kill in the total darkness of the deep waters. They gain their name because Moths are attracted by underwater light sources. They swim and bite at the lights mounted on hardsuits and submarines, believing the lights to be valid sources of food. Occasionally Killer Moths manage to break the light. In at least one recorded incident, a miner was killed when a dozen or so Moths mobbed his faceplate, trying to get at his internal helmet light. His use of his mining laser to clear his helmet can only be described as unfortunate. Gar http://www.irishgaming.com/warpcon http://chrysanthemumRoad.tripod.com "In addition," Henry noted, "our University has a fine theozoology department. Few faculty anywhere can rival our professors when it comes to studying and classifying new sorts of God!" "How many kinds of God are there?" "One, so far," Henry admitted, "but the Department has just recently constructed a ministerial accelerator that they believe will give rise to as many as seventeen forms of God heretofore unknown." —from The Life and Death of Henry Serrano, by Emily Chen, as recorded in Nobilis *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Justin Bacon [triad@prairie.lakes.com] Sent: Sunday, December 24, 2000 1:47 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Hardcover supplements (was First Colony when?) Atti2dboy@aol.com wrote: > Lucky you. I am looking forward to finding out how well supplements that > cost 85% of what the main rule books cost do in sales. Could be worse. D&D fans are paying 175% of the cost of a main rulebook for their hardcover supplements (the FR supplement will clock in at $35). Justin Bacon triad3204@aol.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.