Ice Crawler
| Ice Crawler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Base Information | |
| Classification | |
| Terrain | Land/Ice |
| Locomotion | Walk |
| Size | 3 meters long |
| Speed | Sluggish |
| Strength | |
| Social Structure | |
| Weapons | "Shovels","Rock Grinding Teeth", and "Flamethrower" |
| Armor | Steel-Hard Exoskeleton |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Furioso |
| Multi-world | |
| Canon | Yes |
| Reference | JTAS:17 |
The Ice Crawler (Palarthropodia gelidus) is a non-sophont lifeform native to Furioso.
Physiology & Ecology[edit]
Ice crawlers have flat, low to the ground bodies. They measure some three meters in length, with 5 pairs of jointed exoskeletal legs suspending them off the ground, and an eleventh "leg" extended behind them. Each of these legs ends in a poly-dactyl foot, padded with microscopic grippers which ensure firm footing on any surface (even glass-smooth ice). This creature also has 4 modified "digger" legs on its "head" (reminiscent of terrestrial insect antennas).
Life Cycle & Reproduction[edit]
No information yet available.
Diet & Trophics[edit]
Four modified legs ring the creature's anterior end (there is no head as such) and act as shovels, scrapers, and rock lifters, throwing rocks into a ventral "hopper" ringed by muscular rock-crushing "teeth". Spongy organs are present all along each side of the creature, just above the leg- body joints. These organs, ranging in color from brown to dull orange to bright red, are the analogues to lungs for the ice crawler, which "breathes" hydrogen. No muscular action is involved in this process; hydrogen is diffused through the spongy tissue, and sequestered and collected chemically within the creature's body. The ice crawler metabolizes rock. They have a dual poly-chain silicon-carbon biochemistry, using silicon in some biochemical reactions and carbon in others. Carbon comes from the breakdown of the methane present in the atmosphere, while silicon is liberated by heating and reduction reactions from ingested rock.
The oxygen product of the ice crawler's diet produces a potenttally flammable mixture in a hydrogen atmosphere of Furioso. For the most part, ice crawlers immediately combine this liberated oxygen wlth atmospheric hydrogen in special organic reaction chambers within the body. The exothermic reaction, though apparently not essential to their body chemistries, acts as a sort of organic "supercharger". As the animal is, at best, sluggish and slow-moving, this process brings about unexpected results. The reaction serves as a chemical "pick-me-up" which can send the usually torpid animal thundering across the ice in random directions at unexpectedly great speeds. Over the ages, however, some species have developed an even more unique method of using oxygen liberated during the breakdown of silicon from ingested rock. These creatures can store oxygen in nearly pure form. When threatened or frightened, they can direct jets of oxygen and hydrogen through an anterior orifice located between their handling legs. This stream of hydrogen and oxygen is ignited catalytically, turning the beast into a living flamethrower with a range of several meters.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
No information yet available.
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory[edit]
No information yet available.
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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- Loren Wiseman. "The Bestairy." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 17 (1983): 6.
- Matthew Sprange. "Ice Crawler." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society volume 6 (2020): 45-47.
- Contributor: (*) I-C #DroyneLife (*) (talk) 22:41, 12 March 2017 (EDT)