Fal Zarian Snow Bastard

Fal Zarian Snow Bastard
Base Information
Classification	Carnivore Killer& Heterotrophic Consumer
Terrain	Terrestrial, Mountains, Forests
Locomotion	Jumping and Walking
Size	(40 cm body length, with a tail of equal length, 6cm thick and 20cm wide) / adults are 6kg
Speed	x3 human speed
Strength	1d6 kg capacity/individual
Social Structure	Small packs of 1-6 individuals
Weapons	Teeth
Armor	None
Source
Homeworld	Fal Zaria (Mavuzog 0610)
Multi-world	No
Canon	No
Extinct	Extant
Reference	Ronald B. Kline, Jr.
pg 25 animal encounters (6) Killers 6kg 8/2 none 3 teeth, A4 F9 S3

The Fal Zarian Snow Bastard is a small dangerous creature.

Description (Specifications)

This is a 6kg carnivore killer native to Fal Zaria.

The Fal Zarian Snow Bastard is a bilaterally symmetrical, homoeothermic, heterotrophic consumer. They have a three-way symmetry in their hind quarters, and a central enervated prehensile tail/tentacle flanked by a pair of grasping stabilizers. These stabilizers aid in balance when the animal is leaping or running, and for quick changes in direction at speed.

The Snow Bastard has a closed internal circulatory system with four two-chambered hearts. They use a copper oxidation to transport respiratory gases. They have two sets of single-lobed lungs, with rows of replacement lung buds. Their delicate fibrous endo-skeletal structures are made from polymer lattices of carbohydrates which serve as sites for the deposition of salts. These include calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, and magnesium sulfate. The strongest structural features rely on light magnesium spars and calcium carbonate crystals.

Snow Bastards are pale white in color and run three times faster than humans. They are aggressive, and attack anything which enters their detection range. They have numerous sensor buds covering their enervated dorsal surface. These sensor buds are conical, filamentous muscle stalks which rise several centimetres from the dorsal surface and vary in color, but a pale creamy white pallet is common. Each is surmounted by a 1cm black orb, this is a crude photosensitive optic sensor. It registers motion and light from IR to UV. They typically work in concert to provide the crude nervous system a mosaic composite sense of its surroundings in a 360 degree panorama. The stalks are lightly coated with a sticky mucus that traps particulates and registers as a chemical analyzer and olfactory sense.

The two lateral edges have dozens of small, immature, segmented jumping legs. The dorsal sensor layer joins the ventral muscle layer around the edges of the body cavity. The limbs attach to the lateral bony ridges where the muscle bundles attach. These fringes undulate as the creature runs and jumps, in mimicry and nerve echoes of the mature leg pairs that propel the adult. If a leg is damaged or removed the next bud drops into position and is stimulated to rapidly grow and replace it. Like watching grass grow, the replacements are up and running within a week or two at the most. The majority are undeveloped and dangle, ineffectively. These rows work their way backward along the length of the body as the organism grows and sheds its molting dermal layers. Rapid cell division and a high metabolic rate is common throughout the organism. This necessitates the resting phases. They perch parallel to the ground and perpendicular to the 'tree" trunks. They use the rearward facing tail tentacle and stabilizers to grasp the trunk. Their trio of graspers release like a coiled spring, the legs push off, and a muscular contractile lunge launches them into the air and their bounding stride. They never climb too far from the ground to avoid injury from falls.

At any time there are four to six pairs of running and jumping legs. These powerful legs have triple jointed articulations and are packed with dense muscle bundles. Built for speed, these slender appendages are not useful as weapons. The meter long leaps and bounds are what deliver the massive speed of these killers. The anterior buccal cavity is lined with serrated needle-sharp teeth. A set of four anterior modified legs serve as tiny re-purposed feeding palps. The rows of crystalline needle teeth are built of the same hard salt minerals. Rows of replacement push forward to replace those teeth broken and lost. The jaws are hinged and lightly muscled. The compressional bite strength is not very high. They tend to inflict small bleeding wounds. It takes multiple bites to kill a typical human, for example.

Physiology & Ecology

They are naturally talented at regeneration. Because of their reproduction method, the age of individuals is difficult to measure. An adult ripped in half grows into the equivalent of two new juveniles. They have a high metabolic rate, to maintain a high body temperature. This renders them resistant to the howling winds and low temperatures of the cold mountain passes and thick forests where they live.

There is little cephalization. The anterior end has the biting mouth parts, and the entrance to the digestive tract. The body when viewed from above resembles a fringed oval with a trio of points to the posterior of the animal. The ellipse is longer on the axis from the ventrally oriented mouth to the tip of the central prehensile tail/tentacle, than from side to side. The four to six leg pairs emerge out to the side and then downward toward the ground. Larger and older individuals tend to have more legs as they get larger. Missing legs are not uncommon from injuries sustained during hunting, and only slightly slow them down. They travel at a distance parallel above the ground equal to half their current body length as they grow and mature. Their gait is a mixture of running, punctuated by great bounding leaps and hops.

They lack ears and dedicated sound sensing organs. They do not produce sounds or a significant acoustical signature. They rely on the waving dorsal sensor bundles to detect prey and predators.

Lost body parts will differentiate, and a new organism will grow from each twitching cellular mass of at least 1kg. Not well armored or protected against damage, they rely on their flexible reproductive proclivities to ensure the survival of the species. They have powerful clotting and immunological factors in the copper circulatory fluids.

Cooperative Behaviour

When triggered by the detection of living organisms, any individuals in the area determine if the stimuli reaches the required sensory threshold. If the provocation is great enough, the triggered adults release airborne pheromones to recruit helpers. They leap from the branches or trunks of the mountain trees of the snowy mountain passes where they lair. They are frequently heedless of the size of the organisms they encounter or attack. They are effectively fearless, in so far as they are not intelligent enough to acknowledge the risk of any attack. They will attempt to kill and consume whatever they can catch. They otherwise rest as much as possible to conserve energy. If individuals take enough damage to necessitate regeneration they have been known to crawl away to enter the quiescent phase until the required motility components are rebuilt. Nerve analogues and internal organs will reemerge after a few local days. Body chunks which lack the required limbs can move by muscular contractions akin to a terrestrial snail. Six individuals seems to be the limit of their collective pheromone networking and larger groups are seldom encountered. They will share kills cooperatively.

Predators

They are not apex predators despite their aggressive behavior. Several larger consumers can devour them whole and rely on them for nutrients during the cold winters.

Life Cycle & Reproduction

There is a single adult gender. Excess energy is shunted to the reproductive stabilizer pods. When the time is right they leave the pods attached to tree trunks to siphon nutrients until the next seasonal thaw. Genetic recombination can occur when adults instinctively spray any seasonal pods they find with cells and promoter hormones.

This is only one form of reproduction. They are also capable of clonal fragmentation as a form of asexual breeding. The organisms tend to be aggressive, but cooperate and are not usually competitive between members of their own species. They are frequently damaged and occasionally ripped to shreds by potential prey organisms, however. When this happens, parts of the body that are able crawl off to regenerate and heal. They will eventually grow into multiple, entirely new, adult 6kg organisms. If food is available, the rate of cellular division is high enough to add several grams of body mass per day.

When they grasp the vertical photosynthetic autotrophic producer organisms (equivalent to trees), Snow Bastards use the trio of the longer tentacle/tail and the two flanking stabilizer pods. (It is from these vantage points that they typically spring to attack). The stabilizers are a vascular pair of conical pods used to grip and are coated in slimy adhesion muscle disks. During mating season as the snows melt in the mountains and the temperatures begin to rise they will use these pods for a form of budding. The maturing pods fill with undifferentiated cells and loads of replicated genetic material. Other members of the species will spray hormonal promoters and cells on these pods, which are left stuck to the cellulose fibers of the tree like organisms of Fal Zaria. They burrow in and tap nutrients from the plant analogues until hatching from a hibernation-like state. Each tree-fed pod will spawn a single newborn. They emerge at a 500g size. The dermal layers are embedded with chemical messages carried in secretions from profuse glandular tissues throughout the organism. If climatic conditions conspire against them they can survive being frozen solid. When temperatures rise, they thaw and resume operations where they left off. The system is rugged and fault tolerant.

Diet & Trophics

Adults are carnivores, with a high metabolic rate which ensures their high body temperature. They don't mask heat well. They use their pale coloration for camouflage and will hide in snow banks. This is also for insulation and they can dig shallow dens to trap heat. They will rest, hanging from trees to conserve energy. They will climb up trees to rest and digest after successful hunts. They are indiscriminate in prey selection and will often attack regardless of the suitability of the organisms which approach. They can signal and recruit on a cellular level with airborne chemical messengers.

History & Background (Dossier)

Early colonists moving through cold forests had several unpleasant encounters with these organisms which resulted in loss of life.

Derived Products (Goods)

Current research is looking into their regeneration abilities to isolate compounds capable of promoting differentiated human cells to heal and recruit other cells for repairs. These co-factors could be useful in repairing radiation damaged tissues.

Travellers' Aid Society Advisory

The colonists hate travelling through the snowy mountain passes. These killers are not too dangerous on their own, but their aggressive, irrational behavior is a painful annoyance. Chopping them up only makes the problem worse for the return journey. It took some time to realize that the rising tide was a result of the crude eradication efforts. The bodies have to be burned to ensure they don’t multiply. Tracing lineage or heritage within these organisms is problematic at best, hence the moniker. Foul odors and the flesh’s foul taste make them unpopular with hungry colonists. These experiences are what led to its unscientific nomenclature. Export of this species is generally illegal in the Mavuzog Sector.

Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)

This creature can primarily be found in the following areas:

• Mavuzog Sector
  • Bride Subsector

Homeworld: 1105

The homeworld of this creature is:

• Fal Zaria

World Listing: 1105

Significant communities of this creature are known to be found within the following systems and worlds:

No world articles for Fal Zarian Snow Bastard

References & Contributors (Sources)

This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it.

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis), Captain, and Lead Naval Architect Ronald B. Kline, Jr. of the Imperial Navy
• Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science