Shacca
| Shacca | |
|---|---|
| Base Information | |
| Classification | Insectoid |
| Terrain | Forest |
| Locomotion | walker |
| Size | 5 cm / 500 grams |
| Speed | Slow |
| Strength | None |
| Social Structure | colony |
| Weapons | Bristles |
| Armor | None |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Unknown |
| Multi-world | Yes |
| Canon | No |
| Extinct | Extant |
| Reference | |
The Shacca is a small insectoid creature that produces a natural resin.
- It is farmed on many worlds.
- It was known during the Ziru Sirka.
Physiology & Ecology[edit]
A typical adult measures around 0.02 meters / 5 cm in length and weighs around 500 grams. It has a flat segmented body consisting of a small triangular head mounting the main sensory organs and mouth, a torso containing the brain and mounting six thick motile limbs, and a large abdomen that produces a resinous substance and terminates in two small "resin arms". The mouth is a powerful cutting beak. The torso and abdomen are covered in sharp hair-like bristles that puncture the skin and cause irritation and infection. Shacca can comfortably sit in the palm of a human hand. Most are brightly colored, typically being an iridescent green-blue, though examples from different worlds may display different colors.
Shacca live in large colonies typically having a volume of 2 or 3 kiloliters, and usually constructed among the branches of trees or in rocky clefts. Colonies house around a hundred individuals and are complex structures, with food storage areas, efficient waste disposal, a regulated interior climate, and distinct areas given over to different activities such as raising larvae.
Each colony is made of resin produced by drones, mixed with available materials such as sticks or pebbles, to produce a hard, weatherproof structure. Within the colony the drones fill reservoirs, small internal chambers, with liquid resin - this remains as a liquid until it is mixed with an activator substance. Different types of activators – naturally produced by drones but easily reproduceable by humans – produce different end results in the resin, including a sturdy foamy structure, rigid or solid forms, or rubbery and pliant.
Shacca control large foraging territories around their colony, typically around 100 meters in diameter.
Life Cycle & Reproduction[edit]
Shacca begin as large (0.02 meters / 500 gram) larva, developing from an egg laid by a female and placed within a cell deep inside the colony. They grow for a few months, supplied with food by "nurses", before pupating and emerging as an adult member of the colony. They live for around 3 standard years. Dead Shacca are consumed by other members of the colony.
Shacca have four genders.
- Drones, representing around 90% of the colonies population and undertaking all of the activities, such as foraging, cleaning, and repairs, necessary to maintain the colony. Drones cannot reproduce.
- Some drones are noticeably smaller and more agile but have a larger, more powerful beak. They function as specialist hunters, able to scale delicate stems or pursue prey into small cracks or cover.
- Drones produce the prized resin.
- Males, indistinguishable from drones and representing around 5% of the population. While they typically undertake all the roles of a drone, in hazardous situations they are able to "influence" nearby drones, using them as protection.
- Nurses, representing around 5% of the population and responsible for seeing to the needs of the larvae and the colony's female. Nurses cannot reproduce.
- Drones and males are deferential to nurses and tend to their needs.
- Males and the female require a nurse to be present, to act as a "guide", in order to initiate reproduction.
- Females - a single individual per colony. Females are substantially larger than other Shacca, typically measuring 0.01 meters and weighing around 1 kilogram.
- The female does little other than eat, mate, and produce fertilized eggs.
Larvae develop to maintain a constant ratio of drones, males, and nurses within the colony. If the female dies, a developing larva will become the new female.
Diet & Trophics[edit]
Shacca are omnivorous, consuming anything they can find, though they have a preference for meat if given the choice. They break down food into a chemical slurry within an isolated organ within their upper gut - if it contains substances that can potentially cause harm, the contents can be ejected before they enter their body.
- They are generally extremely hardy and tolerant of a wide range of toxins.
Their diet primarily consists of live prey (typically bugs and small critters) and carrion, and is supplemented by saps and nectars, seeds and berries, and some types of leafy flora.
History & Background[edit]
Shacca are commonly found on large agricultural estates, typically within regions with a strong Vilani heritage.
A shacca is a traditional circular field, with a Shacca colony (usually constructed within a tree-like plant or a specially placed pile of boulders) at its center. Vast swathes of shacca fields may be found on some Vilani agricultural worlds.
- The size of the field is governed by the foraging radius of the Shacca colony.
- Shacca don't consume many types of flora, allowing them to be grown as a crop around a Shacca colony.
Shacca provide a number of benefits to agriculture:
- Their robust digestion allows them to consume vermin and debris of all kinds.
- Their discrete hygiene produces middens: their waste can be mined as a valuable source of fertilizer.
- They produce much-prized resin.
Resin[edit]
Resin can be tapped from the internal reservoirs of the colony. This is a delicate process and requires skill and experience.
Shacca resin has been used as a building material, as an adhesive, for making works tools and utensils, for creating works of art, as a cosmetic, within medical procedures, and in a multitude of other uses. It is marketed as being entirely natural and organic.
While its use is more widespread on very low tech worlds, it is still a much sought after product and commands premium prices.
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)[edit]
This creature can primarily be found in the following areas:
Charted Space:
Homeworld[edit]
The original homeworld of this species is unknown, but it is believed to lie within Vland Subsector of Vland Sector.
World Listing[edit]
Known populations of this creature are found within the following systems and worlds:
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory[edit]
No information yet available.
References & Contributors[edit]
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- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS