#Vorax

[gebo4482]

Vorax

Stairway to Hell. - Alpha 0.4

Website / Steam

[cmweller]

Challenge #03925-J273: One of Our Own

A Vorax ship holds a shock to the humans, another human. A female who was raised from infancy by the Vorax. She's as fierce as they are. -- Anon Guest

Peace rarely happens all at once. There is no universal celebration when the Evil Overlord is vanquished. There is no worldwide breaking of chains when the fascist is hanged, or meets a lonely demise while hiding in a bunker from the revenge of the righteous.

Some are kept unaware of their new freedom. Some wrap their chains around them out of a desire to have what the fascist offered. Unaware that they, too, would be betrayed by fascism.

In some cases, other surprises turn up. Like Nang. A Human living in a Vorax raiding vessel. Those who brought the news to the raiders, along with a 'welcome basket' of a host of Unsuitable foods, were very surprised to see her there. The ambassador handing out the deep-fried halloumi in the pork-crackling crumb coating almost fainted at the sight.

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[postcard-from-the-past]

Advertisement of the Pneumatics company Vorax

French vintage postcard

[internutter]

Challenge #03637-I349: My Kind of Battle

Former Vorax, they gave up raiding which is all but unheard of in their species, much less their particular sect of their species, still want to fight, have competitions. Then they hear of humans having vicious battles where they choose a foodstuff and try to out-EAT each other. Battle where the losers are the ones that eat the LEAST food?? Now that is THEIR kind of fight! -- Anon Guest

"All I can eat?" repeated Vorax Daiv. They were already dribbling in anticipation. "ALL I can eat?"

"All you can eat," supplied Human Hal. "It's to celebrate abundance and plenty, and I think it used to be associated with harvest festivals, but... corporate got a hold of them and it's any excuse for excess at this point. I can guess you want to come along."

"Yes please and thank you," said Daiv. "What is on this everything to eat menu?"

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[AN: Apologies for the delay, my computer doesn't like working long hours 9_9]

[twohitgames]

Vorax debuta en el acceso anticipado de Steam

IndieGala anuncia que Vorax, un juego de terror de supervivencia en mundo abierto en primera persona, ya está disponible en acceso anticipado en Steam. Se proporcionará un nuevo avance tras el lanzamiento, junto con una hoja de ruta. Vorax es un juego ambientado en una isla mediterránea invadida por un patógeno mortal, donde debes buscar, crear y construir refugios para sobrevivir mientras…

[thegeekiary]

Upcoming Survival Horror Game "Vorax" Gets Story Trailer and Roadmap!

Vorax (Image: PR/IndieGala) A brand new trailer and a content roadmap for Vorax have been released by developer IndieGala. The upcoming survival horror game puts you on an island filled with terrifying monsters. Continue reading Untitled

[tristan-arcelona]

Borax

[necrofuturism]

Roach again!

After years of lonely survival following the demise of his dragon claw unit, Vorax meets a friendly Rogue Trader who greets him by shooting him in the face. It's okay tho - it's easy to get mistaken for some kind of tyranid or chaos demon when you're covered in armor and arm blades and horns.

The helmet was a custom job tho. :/

[poisonthefuckingwell]

Hey did you know that there are only 5 species of the Montodom (Montodum Vorax) left? This mammal is a carnivore with a diet of only grains, mailmen, and occasionally small critters, which is why there lifespans are only from a minimum 2 weeks (average lifespans of Montodom runts) to 1 month. This animal can be found mainly in the countries of Kenya, Chicago, Thedas, and Vulcan.

[kazz-brekker]

the sundering duology by jacqueline carey, a summary

[gebo4482]

Vorax - Official Trailer

Website / Steam

[titanomancy]

I suspect that today's preview was originally intended to be the big reveal of the Mechanicum Battle Group, but with that preempted by the leak and subsequent official reveal for the re-inaugural Heresy Thursday, there was a distinctly Mechanicum-shaped hole in the schedule.

Which is really just a great excuse to move up the reveal of the forthcoming range of Dark Mechanicum kits. Not quite as degenerate as the daemon engines of the 41st millennium, the brand new Serperos Heavy Stalkers still manage to look fundamentally unwholesome without being completely encrusted in baroque barnacles.

There's some great design direction that ties them in with elements of the Vulturax and Vorax automata (both of which will be available in the Legions Imperialis battlegroup, and are on my short list for future Age of Darkness releases)

As an aside, a lot of what we've seen from the plastic range to date has been broadly of the "early" Heresy aesthetic, when there was little aside from color scheme and insignia to differentiate traitor from loyalist. It's only a matter of time until the really wild late Heresy stuff starts to make its way through. These proto-daemon engines are just the start.

[featheredsnek]

Chemisting with @Mazaku_u's bro Vorax!

[internutter]

Challenge #04202-K184: F(r)actions

Parasites are not always a bad thing, it is found in areas where people end up with SOME parasites in their systems, allergic reactions to things reduces. But parasites also means a body can be damaged, starved of vital nutrients. So now it becomes, are these microscopic creatures vital to the survival of the species, or should it be systematically removed from their biology, vaccinated into oblivion, and therefore freeing them from constant, voracious, hunger?

https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04090-k072-festival-of-change -- Fighting Fit

Deathworlders are generally terrible at long-term planning. Most of their history contains ample evidence of this statement. Forgoing long-term public health in favour of short term excitement, political gain, or fiscal profit is a popular one. Then of course, there's the hardy perennial war against their worst enemy - themselves.

So when the Thranityr got news of the parasite that caused the Vorax appetite, there was an immediate argument about what to do about it.

There was the faction for tradition - which included the Vorax tradition of eating their dead. Which, incidentally, was how the parasites got passed along in the first place. There was the faction for a cure, citing the potential for peace between the species henceforth. Which the traditionalists decried as siding with weakness. A third faction - told to shut up by the other two - offered to let willing volunteers try the cure, and then standing back to watch what happened next.

[Check the source for the rest of the story]

[forgottensibiria]

Amphibian Perucetus and giant scissor sharks

In previous posts, we considered Moropiton and Poseideongenia, two groups of animals that migrated to Siberia through the Ural Sea in the Late Carboniferous. Before moving on to the actual descendants of these Seymouries - the Angarians themselves - we can distract ourselves with the creatures that the Moscow settlers could encounter on a vegetable raft.

The Dynasty of marine amphibians

Let's start with a strange speculative kind that shouldn't exist. Ichthyocetus, the "whale fish", is a large animal reaching a size of up to 2.5 meters and is a direct descendant of tetrapods of the Moscow Sea, primarily tulerpeton. The latter is known primarily for its six-toed limbs developed relative to other modern tetropods, as well as for its location. The fact is that the remains of the tulerpiton were located 200 kilometers from the supposed shore: this and the very structure of the body of the tetrapod under discussion suggest that the animal lived in shallow water, breathing atmospheric air (no bones corresponding to the gills were found, and the head was separated from the body - i.e. the tulerpeton could lift its head) and moving forward using the legs, pushing them off the bottom (their strength would not be enough to allow the toolerpeton to move on land). It is possible that some tetrapods could have stayed in this habitat, becoming the main predators of shallow waters, where larger predators like eugeneodonts or placoderms could not move normally.

Tulerpeton, 360 m.y.a. Art by Dmitry Bogdanov

Tulerpeton found fossils

Ichthyocetus is the last representative of this hypothetical clade, whose population was almost completely destroyed by the decline in sea level due to the new peak of the Karoo ice Age. His basic diet is benthos, which he can find in the buried ground: echinoderms, starfish and lilies, as well as, if luck smiles, the corpses of marine animals that the surf brings. He could also purposefully hunt for moropitons if they swam too deep. The bones of ichthyocetus are incredibly dense; this allows it to stay in the water during strong waves. This animal is able to sense the approach of a storm - then it tries to find the shore and crawl out onto it, burrowing into the sand; then they are most vulnerable. If it is impossible to find the shore, then the ichthyocetuses go to depth, swallowing air, where they can stay for 3-4 hours. Sometimes this tetropods go deep in search of new food sources, where they can catch young eugeneodonts or small fish. Surprisingly, ichthyocetuses are not the largest representatives of their clade (let's call it Ichthyocetusae): some species could grow up to 3 meters and lead a more pelagic lifestyle.

They usually appeared during periods of intense glaciation with a reduction in their original habitat. Unfortunately, this time climate change has become insurmountable.

Something about scissor sharks

If the meeting of protoseimurians with their "cousin" was unreliable, then the same cannot be said about eugeneodonts. The largest animals of the sea were the edestus, or protopirates. Although the largest protopirate species, E. vorax, could reach 6 meters (making it the largest predator of its time), the Moscow species were somewhat smaller and reached a maximum of 4 meters. These sizes correspond to the modern white shark and mako shark.

Edestus, 313—307  m.y.a. Art by Dmitry Bogdanov

Comparison of the four species of Edestus. Authors of this illustration is Leif Tapanila and Jesse Pruitt

Both poseideonogenes and moropitons encountered these cartilaginous fish - most likely, they were four-meter E. heinrichi and E. triserratus commensurate with ichthyocetus. Most likely, the edestus hunted numerous nautiloids and other soft-bodied prey and could well attack rafts, mistaking them for a dead cephalopod with a spiral shell. The protoseimuria themselves would not be of interest to the edestus - they are too small. That's what saved them.

[ask-alsius-vafer]

The path to the Hospital Wing seemed to stretch endlessly before him. The throbbing ache on the side of his head matched the pulse of each beat of his heart. Every step on the stone floors sent a jolt of pain, a hurtful reminder of the morning's misadventure in Herbology. His hand pressed against the spot where his ear should have been, the phantom pain still gnawing at him. The sharp bite of the Tentacula Vorax' teeth still echoed in his mind, the memory almost as painful as the wound it left behind.

It was a foolish mistake, Felix chastised himself. He should have been more careful, more gentle. Perhaps a kinder touch when pruning the plant might have spared him this torment. Professor Garlick had certainly thought so, lecturing him quite thoroughly before handing him two pieces of cloth - one to stem the bleeding, the other to transport the unfortunate remains of his ear.

The Ravenclaw shook his head, a motion he instantly regretted as dizziness washed over him. There was no time for a bad conscience, no room for self-recrimination. He needed to reach the Hospital Wing. He needed Als.

Als would know what to do. He always did.

Had he been feeling less queasy, he might have opted for the Floo Powder system. But the thought of spinning through the network of fireplaces only made his stomach churn further. So it had to be the long way - the very, very long way, with its many, many stairs.

A sigh escaped Felix as he leaned against the cool stone wall, allowing himself to take a small break. A few passing students glanced his way, their expressions a mix of curiosity and concern. With a forced smile, the Swede assured them that everything was fine. Or at least, it would be once he got to Alsius. He just hoped his friend wouldn’t be too annoyed with his clumsiness, but deep down, he knew he was in the best hands.

"Take a deep breath. In and out. You're almost there," he muttered to himself, trying to steady his breathing, the words a small comfort as he pushed off the wall. The stairs seemed never-ending, each one a cruel reminder of how much further he had to go.

"Just a little bit more..." The words were barely a whisper as he forced himself to keep moving. The trek was taking its toll, beads of sweat dotted Felix' forehead, and the sick feeling in his stomach grew worse with each step. The wound throbbed in time with his heartbeat, the cloth already soaked through with blood.

“Finally,” Felix breathed, both exhausted and relieved as the door to the Hospital Wing came into view. He paused at the door, peeking inside cautiously, his heart lifting slightly at the sight of the young healer, who was quietly tending to his duties. A weak smile tugged at Felix’s lips, a small flicker of relief and gratitude amidst the pain. Just seeing his friend was enough to make him feel safer.

Clearing his throat softly, Felix hesitated. He didn’t want to disturb Alsius if he was in the middle of something important, and the last thing he wanted was to wake any of the other patients. But the urgency of his situation couldn't be ignored.

“Als, um,” he began, his voice a little shaky, “how good are you at reattaching body parts?”

Two freshly corked phials in hand, Alsius crouched before the medicinal cupboard by the infirmary entrance. The beds were unusually vacant today, prompting the rest of the Hospital wing staff to indulge in an impromptu excursion around the grounds for some exercise. Since Professor Sharp had delivered fresh batches of healing potions earlier that afternoon, Alsius volunteered to stay and he took advantage of the rare quiet and solitude to steadily restock the ever-dwindling stores.

He ducked his head and tucked the last phials in with the others, the faint tinkling of glass against glass floating in the stillness as he ensured all labels were neatly aligned for easy readability in an emergency. After an unfortunate incident involving a nurse and a swarm of magimedical-grade leeches (not to mention the Coffee Bean Barrage), the use of Accio was indefinitely banned in the infirmary and the last thing any reasonable healer wished to do in time-sensitive situations was frantically rummage through wilfully neglected shelves. It was a personal pet hate of his, so he made a point of leaving the cupboard the way he always wished to find it.

Clean, tidy, and methodically organised.

The creak of the Hospital Wing door opening echoed that of the cupboard door closing. He hadn’t the chance to look up before he heard Felix’s voice, and the weak, nervous warble immediately drew his attention and concern.

“…reattaching body parts…”

Alsius turned and caught sight of Felix slumped against the doorway, his focus immediately pulled to his friend’s rapid breathing and sickly pallor. Despite the attempt to inject a certain nonchalance into his question, exhaustion etched Felix’s sweaty brow, his expression drawn painfully taut as he cradled a blood-soaked cloth against his head.

A sudden, leadened pit in Alsius’s stomach tipped the scales for haste. Fearing Felix would collapse to the floor, he rushed to the entrance and caught Felix’s weight against his side. He quickly ushered him to the nearest bed, and if the tall blond baulked at being unceremoniously laid out in such fumbling earnest, Alsius couldn’t hear it over the torrential roar of his racing thoughts.

“Sorry,” he whispered, somewhat amazed he had the presence of mind to apologise for such a brutish bedside manner. “With the bleeding, it’s better to lie down.”

Despite his relative youth, Alsius was generally cool and collected and not prone to dramatic mood swings, but when his gaze tracked the crimson rivulets steadily slipping down Felix’s wrist, something in him critically failed. He was no stranger to gruesome illness and injury, but Alsius was woefully unprepared for the visceral impact of seeing someone so dear to him in such a state.

As he stood and hovered over Felix, his chest tightened, heartbeat keeping time with the breakneck pace of all the grim possibilities reeling through his mind. Felix managed all the way here, he frantically reminded himself. It can’t be that serious. It was a paltry reassurance. He pinched his eyes shut against the unsettling swells in his emotions.

Set them aside. Heal. Reconcile the rest later. That was what his parents taught him in his early youth. That’s what Hogwarts more or less taught him in the infirmary. Yet his mind – his heart, still screamed: it’s Felix.

He turned and snapped the privacy curtains closed. Unnecessary considering they were alone, but the guise afforded him the barest moment to try to regain some semblance of composure.

The steadying breath he drew was audibly shaky.

After what felt like an age mustering his courage, Alsius returned to Felix’s side, lowering to sit at the edge of the bed. “Don’t worry, I’ll sort you out,” he murmured softly, though he was unsure if the reassurance for Felix’s benefit or his own.

He leaned forward to remove Felix’s hand and assess the damage, however just as his shaky fingertips brushed the back of Felix’s – he hesitated. He blinked and reached out again, only for his fingers to once again twitch away and curl defiantly into his palm.

There was more than a hint of frustration in Alsius’s sigh when he grudgingly compromised with himself. He rested his palm against the back of Felix’s hand as his gaze slowly surveyed the familiar topography of his friend’s face for all traces of primary and secondary injury. He murmured another apology when he lightly pressed his thumb into the side of Felix’s chin and carefully tilted his head to the side. Their hands remained protectively pressed over the wound, but Alsius still thoroughly searched the visible area for residual scorch damage from curses.

Any sort of evidence to restore the cool rationale upon which he so heavily relied.

A useless pursuit, like trying to capture vapour in his hands. The harder he focussed on ticking off a diagnostic checklist, the more each step dispersed into nothingness.

Alsius should just properly inspect the injury.

Alsius should just ask what happened.

It was the standard course of action no matter who found themselves in his care, but his faculties failed him. He shook his head against the internal contradictions: the spine-tingling fear and uncertainty, gut-wrenching anxiety, and the most alarming – the raw, hot sparks of anger that threatened his veins like flame at a fuse. At some point between his runaway thoughts and terrible excuse for a medical assessment, Alsius truly understood what Sebastian described feeling in the catacombs: cold, uncompromising protectiveness that overrode everything else. The ruthless sense of purpose that defied all rational thought was downright unnerving, and for someone as even-tempered as Alsius, its effect was so unsettling that he robbed him of his ability to function normally.

Nothing about it made sense, and it was maddening, but through the haze of it all there was one thing Alsius knew with unwavering certainty.

Felix would be fine because he would do absolutely everything in his power to ensure it.

Still, one question wrapped around his heart like a vice. It was the very first that crossed his mind in the emotional turmoil and the constant catalyst to whatever breakdown he actively tried to stave off.

It was an unrelenting, suffocating pressure that refused to be ignored. There was always the chance that it had been just an accident. Felix was unfortunately clumsy at times, but if this was maliciously inflicted on him…

Alsius didn’t need to know where or why, or what or how. He needed to know who.

And he would deal with that after.

Finally finding some sense of clarity once again, Alsius slowly exhaled into the heavy, ponderous silence as he gently tilted Felix’s face back to centre. When he finally spoke, the calm and even softness of his voice directly contradicted the steely intensity behind his eyes.

“Did someone do this to you?”