Lifeforms · Third Kingdom · Other
The Molochi
On a world made entirely of molten rock, there is still life.
Full Description
Beyond the psi-pattern of the doomed pilot, a free-floating packet written into the magnetics of the world, there is life. Spurred into being by the psi-pattern's very existance, there are self-replicating patterns here. Here, where lead is energized to the point where it behaves like carbon, it has taken elements from around itself to create a kind of strange, metallic RNA. The body of life here is composed of magnetic fields, directing and in turn directed by shifting lead-iron molecules, in a hellish parody of aquatic life. Like the oceans of earth, there is a food chain, ranging from the simplest creatures, free-floating bits that convert the thermal energy of the molten sea to magnetics, and a series of larger and more complex creatures that feed off the magnetics of lesser creatures.
The highest of these organisms is a wonder to behold: The purely physical portions of its body are perhaps a meter in diameter, spherical when at rest, stretching to a sort of teardrop up to a meter and a half long and three quarters of a meter wide at its maximum cruising speed, of a surprising 20 km/hr. It's internal magnetic fields are enough to put a turn of the millenium computer to shame for complexity and computing power, enough so that it can possibly be considered self-aware. With an intelligence to rival a terran dolphin, this predator literally rules the molten sea.
The Molochi have a limited perception ability, for only three things in their world mean anything: Temperature, Pressure, and thus sonics, and Magnetics. Their primitive language is a complex system of magnetics and sounds, and though it is rigid, and in an odd way, poetic, there's very few ideas for it to carry, and so they simply don't bother having expressions for them. They are ripe and ready to evolve into full sentience, but for now, there are simply no avenues for this to happen beneath the molten seas. Their ability to move through their world is limited by both the top, where the world cools too far to support the unique chemistry of their lead biology, and by the bottom, where their biology simply disintegrates under the heat.
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- A new Look on Elementals by manfred Bound
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- A new Look on Elementals manfred linked by manfred
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A well written and imaginative post, though I am unsure where it could be used, even in a sci-fi setting. In spite of this it is a good 4.0 post. Well done!
However, it inspired a whole new thread with an alternative look on Elementals:
Elementals as life forms.
As the ancient gamer said, a very imaginative post. I know this sounds stupid, but my main complaint is I don't understand what you're trying to say - the idea doesn't feel fully formed.
The Molochi, I fear, were an interesting thought experiment that I went over with a friend: I was given starting parameters, and /sprinted/ with the idea. Originally, these were meant more as a seed for someone else to work with, and it shows, I think, though they're almost strong enough to stand on their own.
*shrug*
Very good, sounds very nice to a pseudoscientific ear, so it would go well into a lot of medium-hard-sci-fi settings...
The only issue is that unless the player was some kind of amazing being, or had really powerful technology, they would probably never encounter one of these.
4.5/5
Bump!
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(This is a random association with the Hauntings Explained? article: http://www.strolen.com/guild/index.php?topic=625.0 )
If minor variable magnetic fields can have certain unsettling effects on people, could not this kind of elementals (a magnetic life-form) have similar effects?
Of course, maybe there is simple no resonance, or people are immune to it, or it could do something else (like make people feel "high" ;) ). But if it does (okay, another IF), elementals would have always a somewhat disturbing aura to people. Yet even the very presence of such a creature, seen or not, would be unsettling.
And that would be no magical effect. It could even affect those with "Nerves of Steel", or "Knows No Fear" characters!
This fits the challenges and links it is associated with, and I love the imagery of it.
It may be hard to use in many Sci Fi campaigns due to the difficulty of anyone encountering these beings, but I think it could fit well in a Supers game, if you have heros in the Superman/Silver Surfer level of power available.