DaeMori
DaeMori... Known to every sentient species who have ever explored the stars as the most dangerous and hostile planet in the galaxy. The following is the result of years of research and exploration by men, women, and all races of aliens, who fought through this hell and often lost their lives, to bring you this information:
Do not go to DaeMori.
The Planet:
DaeMori is a rogue planet. That is, it hurtles through space, with no star to orbit. In all other known cases, this renders a planet too cold to support life. However, on DaeMori, intense geothermal energy deep below the surface generates massive amounts of heat, not only making the planet warm, but in fact making it rather hot. Despite this, the planet is extremely dark due to its lack of a sun.
The planet does have a moon however, which seems to glow in the night similar to the way Earth's moon does. Since DaeMori has no sun, the moon's light cannot be reflected and must originate on its surface, but a powerful distortion field surrounding the moon prevents study. The moon has a cycle the approximate length of 12 hours on Earth, half of which constitutes the "day time" on DaeMori, which is similar to night on Earth. Nights on DaeMori are, without fail, perfectly dark.
Inhabitants:
While DaeMori's status as a rogue planet and its constant darkness may make it uncomfortable, it's the planet's denizens that make it impossible to live there. Due to the lack of sufficient light, almost no plant species live on DaeMori. As such, every living creature documented so far is carnivorous. Worse, evidence shows that evolution on the planet occurs at a hyper-accelerated rate. The resulting creatures are the apex of predators, any one of which could cause massive damage if it were loose on Earth, but on DaeMori, even the predators' lifespans are often short... The following is just a few of the creatures that have been documented so far.
Xillic swarm:
A Xillic (Zil-ick) is an insect like creature about the size of the average mouse. It is currently the smallest known creature on DaeMori. The Xillic's wings and powerful piranha-like jaws make it dangerous alone, but little more than a nuisance for those who go prepared. However, Xillics never travel except in large packs. The average Xillic swarm is about one to two hundred strong, but larger swarms of up to one thousand have been observed.
The term "flying piranha" has been used to describe the Xillics, and it is far from inaccurate. The average swarm can strip a human being to the bone in seconds, even through moderate armor protection. Heavy armor is effective, but is not viable for a long period of time. Psychic barriers are the most effective means of repulsing a Xillic swarm, and will keep them at bay for as long as the individual can maintain the barrier. This has been known, however, to attract Syks, which can easily pass through Xillic swarms due to their abilities.
Warp Blossom:
The only documented plant life on DaeMori, the Warp Blossom uses a curious combination of a carnivorous diet, and photosynthesis through warp field manipulation to stay alive. The Blossom is capable of selecting a planet at seemingly any distance, and creating a warp tunnel to it through which sunlight can flow. Due to the favorable conditions for plant life on Earth, many Warp Blossoms choose it as their target. How the Blossoms are able to maintain these fields without wasting more energy than they gain is unknown.
Particularly large Warp Blossoms create a field large enough for humans to pass through to DaeMori. It is in this way that DaeMori was first discovered by humans. Luckily, the fields only travel one way, thus preventing creatures from DaeMori from passing through them. Research soon revealed that trauma to certain areas of the flower causes it to reverse the polarity of the field, temporarily allowing return travel.
As with all things on DaeMori however, the Warp Blossoms must be treated with caution. Any Blossom capable of transporting a human is also large enough to devour and digest one. This is usually done by grasping the intended prey with several prehensile vines and drawing them to the flower itself, which wraps around the victim and secretes digestive acids. This flower is also the location of the warp field, which cannot be activated during the digestion process. As such, it is highly recommended that all personnel remain at a distance from all Warp Blossoms unless their return warp field is already activated and ready to pass through.
Syk:
The Syk is one of the few solitary predators of DaeMori, exhibiting a mechanism that aids it both in survival and hunting, which is effective against all but the strongest of DaeMori's predators. The Syk is capable of exerting a powerful psychic influence over a short range that renders it unnoticeable to any creature within range. It is worth noting that this does not make the Syk invisible, but merely causes those affected to consider its presence as unremarkable. Because of this, Syk can still be noticed on security camera footage, and by those who see it from outside its psychic range by use of visual magnification.
Oddly, the psychic frequency broadcast by a Syk seems to be negated when it comes into contact with a similar frequency. It appears that this is why Syk prefer to hunt alone, as coming too close together renders their abilities useless. Capturing a Syk is the only viable way to protect any sort of campsite against further Syk intrusion. A Psychic powerful enough to resist the Syk's effect would be needed for such a purpose, though headsets with built-in HUDs that are designed to recognize Syks and alert their user to the danger have proven effective in some situations as well.
Physically, the Syk is rather weak. It has insectoid wings, but cannot truly fly. It is capable of jumping impressive distances however. It has a vaguely humanoid shape, but its arms are replaced by sharp, scythe-like weapons starting at the elbow. These scythes are primarily used for self-defense, as the Syk prefers to consume its prey whole whenever possible.
Maiden:
The Maiden is a creature that did not appear until recently, long after humans began exploring DaeMori. It is thought that they are an evolutionary adaptation of some other creature in response to the sudden availability of new prey. Maidens take on the form of a young, pale human woman in a white dress. They often pretend to be trapped or in danger in order to draw in human prey, which they subsequently swallow whole. Their efficient digestive system is able to digest a fully sized human being in less than an hour. Despite their humanoid appearance, most Maidens are non-sentient.
There are many documented variants of the Maiden, chief among them being the copy Maiden, a variant able to take on the physical form of those it eats in order to draw in more prey. They show a noticeable preference for female forms over male, though they will happily devour either. Another fairly common variant is the Maiden Queen. This Maiden, despite still being non-sentient, wears a white crown and is attended to by at last four other Maidens of varying variety. Maiden Queens rarely interact with each other, and will often fight to the death when they do, with the winner earning loyalty of the loser's attendants.
While Maidens are generally non-sentient, a few sentient ones have begun to appear. They seem to learn languages easily and are often eager to speak with researchers, though they seem to have difficulty understanding that eating them is not acceptable. Despite this, they will often refrain from eating anyone that they consider a "friend". However, desperate hunger can override this. Sentient Maidens have often been seen in the service of non-sentient Maiden Queens. When questioned on this, they reply that it is "only natural." No further details have been given by any Maiden on this point.
Crystal: (Working name)
This crystal-like creature appears at first to be inanimate, but research has concluded that it is, in fact, alive. It can feed upon electrical impulses as well as life energy, and has a hypnotic ability that beckons sentient creatures to touch its surface. Luckily this ability is fairly weak, as touching it causes one's life energy to be sucked from their body into the crystal! The crystal is capable of doing this even at a distance (the range of which varies depending on the size of the crystal) but at a much slower rate.
The crystal is also capable of manifesting the image of anyone it has devoured in this manner, using them as lures or even guards. It is unknown whether those absorbed remain alive inside the crystal, but bound to its will, or if they are digested in some manner, and the images produced by the crystal in their likeness are just that: images.
DaeMorian:
The DaeMorian. So named, as it appears to be the most dominate and intelligent species on the planet. They are the only creature native to DaeMori known to be sentient in 100% of cases, and they are easily the most dangerous of the documented creatures. Most of the data on DaeMorians come from the dissection of a single specimen that was found dead, presumably killed in a fight with another DaeMorian judging by its wounds. Any attempts to capture a live specimen, or indeed, even kill another for dissection, have met with disaster.
DaeMorian's have a basic human shape, but stand at an average of seven feet tall. Individual's up to nine feet have been documented, as well as those as short as six. They have a super-dense muscle structure, giving them a thin but highly muscular appearance, as well as super-human strength. The skin of a DaeMorian is pitch-black, with pure white marking that seem to vary by family. On average, 25% of a Daemorian's body is white. All Daemorian's have a helmet made of an unknown black metal alloy. It appears to grow from them, as the helmet has no way of being removed. The metal wraps around their head in the shape of a skull, leaving a small patch open in the back through which dark, short hair can be seen. It even wraps around their sharp, interlocking teeth.
So far, DaeMorian's are also the only species on DaeMori with an immediately recognizable distinction between male and female. While most species on the planet have male and female varieties, the DaeMorians are the only ones known where the difference can be told at a glance. Male DaeMorians have horns jutting from the side of their helmets, which then sharply curve forward. The horns almost seem as blades. Male DaeMorians store a different type of energy in each horn, and at will can cause a reaction between these two types which causes a small but powerful energy blast to erupt forward. Female Daemorians have shorter horns that curve backwards and slightly downward. Similar to male DaeMorians, they can cause a reaction in the energy of these horns... Rather than firing an attack however, in a female Daemorian this creates a small regenerative field which heals it, as well as anything else in its immediate proximity. Aside from the horns, female DaeMorians are also slimmer and have breasts, though they do not appear to have nipples.
DaeMorians are universally hostile toward anything not of their own species, and will attack and devour whole any human they see. Curiously, DaeMorians always seem to prefer prey opposite to their own gender. They will take same-gendered prey home for consumption by their mate or children. Female DaeMorians are more likely to forego this preference than males. On the other hand, DaeMorians seem quite amiable toward each other, and work well together in small villages. Their family patterns seem similar, if a bit more selective, to humans. Fights between DaeMorians do occur, but only rarely.
Male DaeMorian:
((More to come soon.))
One of the Memories_of_No_One