Irlaggurian Plankton
| Irlaggurian Plankton | |
|---|---|
| Base Information | |
| Classification | Various (Omnivore & Autotroph) |
| Terrain | Exotic (Atmosphere: Air) |
| Locomotion | Flying |
| Size | Microbiota (n<1.0 mg) |
| Speed | Very Slow |
| Strength | Very Weak |
| Social Structure | Large Swarm |
| Weapons | Parasite (Non-symbiote) |
| Armor | None |
| Source | |
| Homeworld | Irlaggur/Urlaqqash (Reaver's Deep 2624) |
| Multi-world | No |
| Canon | No |
| Reference | Periodical: Classic Traveller Periodical: MegaTraveller Travellers' Digest No. 16 |
Irlaggurian plankton is similar to plankton often found in the seas of other worlds, but Irlaggur's higher atmospheric pressure and lighter surface gravity make the atmosphere a viable environment for this kind of microscopic life.
- To put it in a more colloquial fashion, the world of Irlaggur has a thick "pea soup" fog-like atmosphere capable of allowing smaller lifeforms to literally float in the air as if it were water.
- Or to put it in a more scientific fashion, Irlaggur's atmosphere is thick, and provides a colloidal matrix in which microbiota can reside due to a higher atmospheric pressure, a higher surface tension, and a lighter surface gravity.
Irlaggurian Plankton is not just one species, but many, all co-existing in a compact, floating ecosystem. The plankton is of the zoo- (animal), phyto- (plant) and hybrid zoophyte ("plantimal") varieties.
Physiology & Ecology[edit]
The world is roughly 9,000 kilometers in diameter and occupies the eighth orbital position. Irlaggur has only a few small bodies of water scattered about it surface, most of which are located near the poles.
Irlaggur's atmosphere consists of a tainted oxygen-nitrogen mix at just less than two standard atmospheres of pressure.
- The taint is an unusual life form known as "Irlaggurian Plankton".
Life Cycle & Reproduction[edit]
No information yet available.
Diet & Trophics[edit]
No information yet available.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
Irlaggurian plankton is similar to plankton often found in the seas of other worlds, but Irlaggur's higher atmospheric pressure and lighter surface gravity make the atmosphere a viable environment for this kind of microscopic life.
- A human can breathe the plankton-laced air briefly without protection, since the plants are not toxic. Over time, though, some plankton will become lodges in the warm, moist recesses of the lungs, and grow into a colony "infection."
- If not treated, the lungs will fill with the rapidly reproducing colonies within a week, causing death by suffocation.
Local animal lifeforms have adapted to the plankton-filled air in various way.
- Some animals who feed on the plankton have unique filters in their respiratory systems that clean out the plankton, and flush the filter plankton into their digestive tracts.
- Most animals on Irlaggur breathe in a distinctive "snorting" fashion, clearing their lungs of the plankton with each breath.
- In addition, nearly all Irlaggurian animals have strong alkali linings in their lungs that instantly kill any plankton that lodge there.
Travellers' Aid Society Advisory[edit]
The Travellers' Aid Society recommends the following methods of preventing an Irlaggurian Plankton infection while visiting Irlaggur:
- Use a filter mask or exotic (tainted) atmosphere helmet
- Use widespread, preventative antibiotics
- Ingest a diet of spicy (acidic) foods creating an acidic body pH unconducive to Irlaggurian Plankton
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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- Periodical: Classic Traveller Periodical: MegaTraveller Travellers' Digest No. 16
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master Scout Emeritus Adie Alegoric Stewart of the IISS
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science