Let me tell you, it was pretty therapeutic to get this one out there.
I´ve had some of these people in my head for ten years or more. The image of a mud-smeared warrior using a turtle-shell for a shield has, for some reason, been with me since the early 90´s. I´ve always wanted to do something with it, and now I have...:-)
Thanks for some nice comments and feedback, guys. Appreciate it! /David Go to Comment
This sub put me in the mind of the Ohm, from Nausica of the Winds, and I can imagine the fuss that happens when one of these stony behemoths split's it's shell and extends massive wings to lumber off into the sky with all the grace of a boulder with wings.
I added wings in my version, even if there is no mention of the beasts being able to fly in the sub. Go to Comment
Some subs impress me for their detail and minutae. Some, simply for the visual and spark of imagination. This is one of the latter ones. I can make up all the details I need, but the concept of behemoth desert beetles alone, makes me happy! Man, i love fanatsy bugs.
(Goat-Skin pavilions are nice too!) Me'thinks we need a few of these in Nesseraum. Go to Comment
Its a good idea, but I'm not sure how the nomads are any more protected against the elements while riding the beetle's back, which would be the primary issue in a desert notorious for its sandstorms. But then again, perhaps I am misunderstanding the use of the beetles. Go to Comment
You are correct, of course. I guess their heavy leather tents and maybe a bit of magic takes care of the sandstorms and so on. I more envisioned them being safe from predators on top of what is essentially a big tank. I may have to put that in, though. Thanks!
You might be right, I´m no zoologist :) But hey, I´ve never seen any rootgrubbing animal with mandibles? Boars, tapirs and aardvarks have snouts, but they are mammals of course... I´´ve got an idea: maybe it needs the snout to get to deep moisture pockets in the sand?
Damn, this is five years old.. Where does the time go?
I actually wrote a little of that in a short story:) 6198
I think the inspiration was the Jawas and their Sandcrawlers, always loved those..
//David Go to Comment
Once again, like from all your Locastus submissions, I'm feeling strong but pleasant echoes of New Crobuzon and China Mieville's Bas-Lag. I like the Broan, especially because they are just the right spot on the continuum between race-so-mundane-its-boring and race-so-bizarre-its-unusable Go to Comment
Very nicely done. Well presented. It includes everything you need. It is complete in detail, with lots of implied information to give you direction for other things. I thought the biotech was a nice touch, though kind of tacked on at the end, and not really mentioned before. Go to Comment
i would switch the glow-orbs gas to hydrogen rather than helium, mostly based on the assumption that I dont know a way that an organism could come into possession of enough helium to float itself, whereas hydrogen works, and is very easy to come by.
Nice work, but I can see LOTS of folk wanting to get chop chop stab stab on the Broan. I do feel rather sorry for them, but like to know more aobut where they came from and why they are refugees. Go to Comment
Lifeforms (Intelligent Species) (Any)
Many of these are detailed enough to be their own subs - perhaps as time goes by breaking them out and linking them back might be an idea.
Can't _quite_ go 5 - but take a 4.5 plus an HOH! Well Done! Go to Comment