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Description

A creature I came up with and sketched a while ago. The initial idea was to make cross between a ball-jointed doll and an arthropod – but to be honest, the eventual design hardly resembles any of both.

Anyway, here is some trivia about the species:

> Despite vaguely feminine appearance, they are actually hermaphrodites.

> Often dwell in the abandoned man-made structures in small packs, with the strongest one assuming the role of a male.

> Oviparous. Their eggs must be laid in some organic mass (usually an animal carcass) in order to absorb enough nutrients to hatch. Hatchlings are small and insect-like and will gradually metamorphose into a bipedal, more adult-like form in a course of a year or so.

> Carnivores, often resort to scavenging. A vertical line in a middle of a face is actually a mouth – and it has two rows of particulate sharp, razor-like teeth. Like this .

> Their “hair” is made of silk-like fibers and can be grown or shed voluntarily. They are heard to use it to decorate their nests and to create simple traps for their prey. A skin “skirts” can be grown or shed willingly as well, with some individual even growing similar structures in other parts of their bodies, like backs or shoulders.

> A hole in their chest is what they breathe and vocalize through. Between themselves, they usually communicate with illegible crackles and chirps – but they can also mimic human tongue pretty well. Level awareness can vary drastically, ranging from a blind repetition to a completely lucid (albeit somewhat childish) speech.

> They have a special organ in their chests which holds the stem cells and periodically release them in a bloodstream – this allows them to suppress the aging process and regenerate from any non-lethal damage, but only as long as the organ is intact. It also doubles as gonad, as well as have one pretty morbid feature – if the creature dies in a way that don’t damage it, it can manage to produce one or few eggs as a last resort, so then the hatchlings can feed on their dead parent and carry on its genes.

> Despite the name, their shell is actually made from cellulose-like material and is quite resistible to damage.

> Distributed on almost every continent, but their origin is unknown.

UPD: now have a proper species sheet.

Description

A creature I came up with and sketched a while ago. The initial idea was to make cross between a ball-jointed doll and an arthropod – but to be honest, the eventual design hardly resembles any of both.

Anyway, here is some trivia about the species:

> Despite vaguely feminine appearance, they are actually hermaphrodites.

> Often dwell in the abandoned man-made structures in small packs, with the strongest one assuming the role of a male.

> Oviparous. Their eggs must be laid in some organic mass (usually an animal carcass) in order to absorb enough nutrients to hatch. Hatchlings are small and insect-like and will gradually metamorphose into a bipedal, more adult-like form in a course of a year or so.

> Carnivores, often resort to scavenging. A vertical line in a middle of a face is actually a mouth – and it has two rows of particulate sharp, razor-like teeth. Like this .

> Their “hair” is made of silk-like fibers and can be grown or shed voluntarily. They are heard to use it to decorate their nests and to create simple traps for their prey. A skin “skirts” can be grown or shed willingly as well, with some individual even growing similar structures in other parts of their bodies, like backs or shoulders.

> A hole in their chest is what they breathe and vocalize through. Between themselves, they usually communicate with illegible crackles and chirps – but they can also mimic human tongue pretty well. Level awareness can vary drastically, ranging from a blind repetition to a completely lucid (albeit somewhat childish) speech.

> They have a special organ in their chests which holds the stem cells and periodically release them in a bloodstream – this allows them to suppress the aging process and regenerate from any non-lethal damage, but only as long as the organ is intact. It also doubles as gonad, as well as have one pretty morbid feature – if the creature dies in a way that don’t damage it, it can manage to produce one or few eggs as a last resort, so then the hatchlings can feed on their dead parent and carry on its genes.

> Despite the name, their shell is actually made from cellulose-like material and is quite resistible to damage.

> Distributed on almost every continent, but their origin is unknown.

UPD: now have a proper species sheet.