#archin

[serpentface]

INTRO TO THE SOPHONTS

There are eight distinct sophont genuses and/or species in the known world of the blightseed setting. above are examples of each to show overall difference in anatomy and size.

note- terms like 'genus' 'species' 'subspecies' have no meaning in-universe, and do not necessarily have a role in the formation of cultural groups and identity.

Yotici

Yotici are large marine grazers. Their place on the tree of life is an offshoot of very early fish, all of whos modern representatives live in alternating generations, with a sessile asexual stage that resembles a plant, and a long-living reproductive phase (shown here).

The sessile phase appears in the form of 'gardens' that grow from a seabed where eggs were lain. The reproductive phase begins when tiny yotici (yotlings) develop and emerge en-masse. Yotici do not actively protect yotlings until they begin to speak, and many will die within their first year. (though they provide passive protection by allowing their yotlings to school around them, and through the shielded garden environment)

Their sessile young, however, are closely guarded. Yotici are ecosystem engineers that modify their environments to protect their gardens. They build enclosed and controllable environments with coral, rocks, mangroves, shipwrecks, etc, in shallow waters. They manipulate their environment via their 'tentacles' (actually highly modified genitalia, very dextrous and present regardless of sex).

They have likely domesticated more species than any other sophont, both as an unintentional byproduct of their ecosystem engineering and through intentional breeding. Their most important domestic animal is the garden shark, a species of bullhead kept to protect their sessile young from predation by invertebrates and other small animals.

They primarily eat sea grasses, certain corals, kelp, and occasionally shellfish, crustaceans, and other small animals. They require large, healthy expanses of seagrass to be sustained, and will readily kill or drive away competition. They also take an aggressive stance towards predation, generally being highly aggressive until predators recognize them as a threat leave them alone. This includes encroaching landdwellers- yotici territories utilized by land dwellers are often sites of conflict. Peaceful coexistence in the same waters requires the creation and maintenance of treaties and pacts, historically rare due to difficulties in interspecies communication.

They have aesthetic sensibilities, and may decorate themselves by allowing barnacle growth, or via scarification. 

Yotici exhibit no sexual dimorphism and near-ubiquitously do not construct gender. Their genitalia-arms no longer have a sexual function, and they reproduce via group spawning.

The most basic social unit of the yotici is the pod, related individuals who hatched in the same garden and maintain it throughout their lives.

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Human

Humans are upright bipedal apes. They are notable among midsized mammals for lacking protective fur, making them vulnerable to both sun exposure and the cold.

There is only one species of human, sole survivors of a once broad family of upright apes. Humans came into behavioral modernity as mobile plains dwelling hunter-gatherers- a highly efficient mode of living utilized to the present day. They are omnivores, capable of adapting to a wide variety of diets and thus a great variety of environments.

The first humans likely developed south of the now inhospitable equatorial Deadlands. Known contemporary populations exist mostly within the eastern and northern parts of the supercontinent.

Humans exhibit modest sexual dimorphism, less pronounced than other apes but with some unique display features such as permanent breasts and bright lips. They can reproduce year-round, and typically bear one child at a time. Childbirth is very dangerous, and many young and mothers die in the process. Their young are completely helpless, and may take over a year to even begin to walk.

The most common basic human social unit is composed of reproductive pairs and their families, though there is tremendous variety in how they form groups.

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Elowey:

Elowey are primates, most closely related to lemurs. They average around the same height as humans, but are heavier. They are capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal locomotion.

Two relatively distinct subspecies of elowey are known to survive, though with significant gene flow between the two. Southern elowey (pictured here) are larger on average with bigger guts and more exposed skin, and northern elowey are smaller, with denser fur and slight aquatic adaptations.

Elowey are omnivores, but better adapted towards plant eating. Southern elowey can subsist entirely on plants and digest much tougher plant material than humans with their large guts. Northern elowey rely more heavily on meat, especially during the winter months. The gene for lactase persistence is widely found in northern elowey and largely absent in southern populations.

Elowey have a strong sense of smell. They have two sets of scent glands, which at their most basic communicate territoriality and identity, but the social implications are far broader. 

They come from highly territorial ancestors, and most individuals become stressed and uncomfortable when living in dense populations with unrelated elowey. This discomfort is lessened towards members of other species, though they are still prone to social claustrophobia.

Elowey lack significant sexual dimorphism, with nonreproductive females being indistinguishable from males (aside from genitalia, which is brightly colored in males). Reproductive females go through a pronounced estrus, and hormones from pregnancy induce permanent bodily changes, mostly in the form of longer fur and greater muscle mass.

The most basic social unit of elowey is a reproductive pair, their young, and nonreproductive siblings/family. Typical families only have one reproductive pair at a time, and the presence of a reproductive female actually suppresses the fertility of other females. They give birth to 1-2 young at a time, which are helpless for a couple months until they begin to walk. 

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Caelin and Delkhin:

Caelin and Delkhin are two closely related drakes (pterosauroids of this setting), with locomotive forelimbs (wings) and manipulative hind limbs.

Both are obligate carnivores who supplement their diets only occasionally with plant matter, and as such large populations can only be supported by ecosystems with massive herds, or intensive animal agriculture. Both have ancestors who scavenged on the dead, with active hunting being a byproduct/driving factor of sapience.

Males develop large, colorful wattles, and all possess the ability to create booming songs with their gular sacks (though the calls of males average louder). Females are typically smaller than males in both species, and have dull coloration

The two are closely related enough to produce young, but their eggs are often inviable and the young are rarely fertile. In spite of this, there is frequent gene flow between the two and hybrids are relatively common.

The sex of offspring in both species is determined by incubation temperature, with profound societal implications- often sons are intentionally limited.

The pre-sophont ancestors of both reproduced in lek based mating systems, which remains an influence on modern social behavior. The basic social unit of both caelin and delkhin societies is the lek, typically one (sometimes more) breeding males, several females, and their offspring. 

Caelin:

Caelin are about the size of egrets, and capable of powered flight. Their ancestors followed herds of bison, aurox, horses, and khait to scavenge on the dead and dying, which developed into more active management and domestication.

There are a few subspecies of caelin, though most are indistinct from one another (aside from the very small polar caelin).

Caelin are the most widespread sophont of all, having settled anywhere in the world that could support them, though the areas with highest populations are the great steppes of the west. There are few populations historically existing in human-dominated areas, as they tend to compete for food resources.

They are capable of a unique mode of subsistence, scavenger nomadism. Scavenger-nomads fly from place to place seeking dead or dying animals as food sources.

Delkhin

Delkhin are flightless and significantly larger than caelin, standing between 3-5ft in height and weighing several times as much as their relatives. They possess a small horn jutting from the back of the skull, larger and colorful in males.

There are few populations of delkhin outside of Cynozepal and the western grasslands. Their reliance on meat and relatively large size keeps their populations at a low density with great difficulty adjusting to other regions.

Delkhin have notched beaks and strong necks that allow manipulation of larger and heavier objects, and their 'hands' are deft at handling smaller ones.

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Qilik

Qilik are roughly turkey sized protobirds. Their ancestors glided, but modern qilik have lost much of their gliding ability as their wings were re-repurposed for manipulation. Their hands have two mobile fingers and one mostly immobile claw.

Qilik would be considered a genus rather than species. There are several species + subspecies of qilik, with the most distinct species being the plains qilik (which are larger, with long thin tails and smaller wings) and the forest qilik (which are smaller, with fans on their tails, broader wings, and are better climbers). More isolated populations have more derived features, such as the small and nocturnal cave dwelling qilik of the deadlands. All are interfertile with significant gene flow between most.

Qilik are omnivores and primarily insectivorous. Their ability to survive on insects makes them one of the least competitive for resources with other sophonts, and as such qilik populations commonly overlap with others and may be indigenous to the same areas.

Most populations are native to forested regions with a high density of insects.  Those who have taken up animal husbandry spread to the plains and eat a more meat-based diet.

Qilik have sexual trimorphism - large, dull colored females, smaller, brightly colored males, and larger, dull colored 'feminine' males (faeder).

Mating occurs seasonally, and most individuals lack any significant sex drive out of season. Hens typically mate with multiple males and mating pairs do not form permanent bonds.

The most common social unit is same-gender (or hen/faeder) flocks which are interdependent but live primarily homosocial lives, with hens/faeder doing most work while groups of males care for children. Their social systems are highly plastic, however, and great variety exists.

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Talking crows

Talking crows are crows. They produce language and have complex societies, and can intelligently communicate with other sophonts via mimicry. They may give the impression of being child-like or 'animalistic' to other sophonts, as they struggle with large numbers and certain abstract concepts (and live overall similarly to their non-sophont corvid relatives) but excel beyond any other at cognitive mapping, memory, and navigation.

They do not differ significantly in anatomy from other crows, though notched beaks and flexible feet allow for more deft manipulation of tools. Because of their appearance and relative isolation from other sophonts, they are often interpreted as supernatural beings or 'talking animals'.

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Archin

Archin are sapient ant colonies. The only known extant population of the species occurs in the Red Rock Archipelago far southeast in the world-sea, and has been isolated from other sophonts for the majority of its history.

Rather than an individual animal, archin consciousness and personhood exists in the collective. Archin consciousness is an emergent property of colonies, with individuals being somewhat akin to cells composing a brain. 

They are not a hivemind in any literal sense, rather they use the same methods of chemical and touch communication as most other eusocial insects (only highly specialized and with enough plasticity to communicate abstract concepts and understand language).

A single archin has more complex cognitive ability than most ants, and most vertebrates for that matter (better memory, complex motor skills, problem solving) and fully functional as an organism, but is not sapient on her own. Individuals are also very large for ants- about an inch long, with strong jaws capable of deft tool manipulation,

Archin colonies are composed of ‘units’ of 50-100 ants, each unit being functionally an individual personality. A single archin lives about a year, but a unit can survive and retain memories for decades. A unit usually has a set job within the colony, but their role may shift throughout their life. They will usually choose a 'name', and identify themselves with chemical and some visual signals.

A full colony (~1000-3000 individuals) blurs the lines between a person, family, and tribe. It can function as one broad consciousness, but cannot ‘think’ quickly and efficiently as a unit.

Each colony has one queen, who functions as the womb of the group. Her lifespan determines the lifespan of the colony, (up to 60 years in a healthy individual), during which time she will lay eggs yearly. The queen is no more or less intelligent than any other individual archin and contributes little to the collective consciousness, but her importance to the colony's longterm survival makes her uniquely valued over any other individual.

Drones (reproductive males) function as the sperm cells of the group, and are used to forge alliances with other colonies. They die upon mating and contribute nothing to archin consciousness, though their reproductive value makes them the second-most protected individuals in a colony.

Individual archin instinctually reject 1:1 inter-colony communication, which is necessary to not interfere with their consciousness. When parts of different colonies combine, it can lead to units becoming confused and disoriented, or 'mentally ill'. This may be resolved into rogue units, who roam apart from their colonies until they die (or are successfully divided and restored).

Consciousness does not extend beyond a colony. However, due to the highly plastic nature of archin consciousness, it is possible for colonies who lose their queens or suffer great loss of population to perform mergers with other colonies and form new identities. Relations between colonies vary- each has allies and enemies. Allied colonies may form 'nations' and even have forms of governance, though this is near-universally decentralized.

While their mode of consciousness is quite alien to other sophonts, coexistence, communication, and even friendships are possible. A unit is functionally a person with their own personality, with likes, dislikes, curiosity, favorite foods, aesthetic sensibilities, etc. Archin also exhibit highly abstract thought and have forms of religious sensibility.

[ajuunisu]

somplace else....

live a life with no regrets 🙏

[cupcakeinat0r]

My bitch pose NEEEAAASSTY‼️

[rujakabu]

Please take my another fcfr offering

[holybananaoafshoe]

✨️Team Dynamics ✨️

Get ready for some angst

Tired Cryo Dads 6/8

Wrio takes Kaeya to a magic show (front row seats bbyy), the kids get to go backstage and get the VIP treatment with Lyney and Lynette

At one point in the show, there’s a trick with fire, and it gets uncomfortably close to Kaeya

Cue the silent panic attack and Wrio noticing the quiet, strangled noise Kaeya makes when the heat of the fire gets close to their faces as well as the absolute death grip the guy has on the arm rests

Wrio manages to get Kaeya to a quiet area to help calm him down

Meanwhile, Kaeya is definitely having flashbacks to the night Diluc had nearly killed him

He’s a mess, hand over his eyepatch, and the other clutching his shirt where old burn scars lay hidden underneath

Wrio is really good at calming people down, like really good, and he gives great hugs.

Hey, it comes with the job

He’s had to calm down a lot of people throughout his career (sometimes it’s with a hug, sometimes it's with a punch)

He doesn’t ask Kaeya questions, just makes sure he knows he’s safe and that he’s not in whatever bad memory that’s replaying in his mind

And please tell him if the hug is too much because he heard that it helps, but he wasn’t sure

It helps more than Wrio knows

If Kaeya cries a little, Wrio doesn’t mention it, just makes sure to coach Kaeya in a breathing exercise

By the time Kaeya calms down, the show is over and they have to collect the kids

Klee doesn’t know why Kaeya is upset, but she toddles over and gives him a big hug, which helps hide Kaeya’s shaking hands

He picks her up and holds her, hugging her tightly, and doesn’t put her down until they get to their hotel later

Lyney definitely noticed something was wrong, and is apologizing profusely when he and his sister are able to come over

“I would have never done the trick if I had known” and “I promise I would have directed it somewhere else, it’ll never happen again and--”

Kaeya says it’s okay (he's definitely not okay, but that's besides the point)

He knows Lyney didn’t mean any harm, but, honestly, he wants to go home, maybe have a drink, and go to bed

They all part ways, Wrio promising to check in once he makes sure the siblings get back home safe

He definitely did not go to bed

Wrio finds him outside of the hotel after walking the trio siblings back home

They have a long conversation, and Kaeya spills his backstory a bit, leaving out the whole khaenri'ah part, and just saying he spilled a secret to his brother

Wrio is a good listener and a good advice giver because it seems they’re on better terms. Surely, whatever Kaeya’s secret was, Diluc doesn’t hate him for it. It was just delivered at a bad time

The talk helps Kaeya feel better. They stay outside until the sun is up, and the spark knight is ready to go exploring

[wikoymi]

13 november 2023

[devilat-thedoor]

🩵Saturday morning Jakedown🩵

[undermine-the-instinct]

Why...w-why am I getting ideas for a NeuvilletexBusiness/Inventor!Reader....?

[anemovisionuser]

After all that has happened in Fontaine, the rains of destruction and death, rebirth, forgiveness, freedom and clear skies, one question still remains: who the fuck is Chevreuse

[pair-a-new-shoes]

@racetrackhigginsissocool @cigar-stealing-redhead explain this picture rn 🫵

[dkniade]

I wanna go back to being obsessed with a character again, enough that I’ll want to dig up every bit of lore about them

“because, I guess my type of character is just ‘friendly guy who’s depressed on the inside but has cool jacket.’ bonus points if they’re an artist in any way, take a shot if they have trauma”

maybe I’ll check out Childe’s story in proper

(what kind of instrument would he play)(hell, what kind of poem would he write)(if he paints, what is ‘beautiful” to him)(probably violence in some form, at least partially?)

[serpentface]

Archin are now the sapient ant colonies they always should have been. They are about an inch long, with strong jaws capable of deft tool manipulation, and communicate/form a consciousness through a combination of chemical senses and touch based language.

Rather than an individual animal, archin consciousness and personhood exists in the collective.

A single archin has more cognitive ability than most ants, and most vertebrates for that matter (better memory, complex motor skills, problem solving) and fully functional as an organism, but is not sapient on her own. Archin consciousness is an emergent property of colonies, with individuals being somewhat akin to cells composing a brain. 

They are not a hivemind in any literal sense, rather they use the same methods of chemical and touch communication as most other eusocial insects (only highly specialized and with enough plasticity to communicate abstract concepts and understand language). 

Archin colonies are composed of ‘units’ of 50-100 ants, functionally individual personalities. A single archin lives about a year, but a unit can survive and retain memories for decades. A unit usually has a set job within the colony, but their role may shift throughout their life. They will usually choose a 'name', and identify themselves with chemical and some visual signals.

A full colony (~1000-3000 individuals) blurs the lines between a person, family, and tribe. It can function as one broad consciousness, but cannot ‘think’ quickly and efficiently as a unit.

Individual archin instinctually reject 1:1 intra-colony communication, which is necessary to not interfere with their consciousness. When parts of different colonies combine, it can lead to units becoming confused and disoriented, or 'mentally ill'. This may be resolved into rogue units, who roam apart from their colonies until they die (or are successfully divided and restored)

[sammyloomis]

took this pic of troy while i was in photo mode and literally why is he built like that

[yellowthundercloud]

Wait. So you're telling me (careful I'm about to spoil) that each archon has stolen the power of a dragon? And that's where their power comes from? And if they gave it back, the dragons could rule again?

I get it for Mondstadt. Yup. Fontaine too, pretty clear. Inazuma's dragon could be the dead snake on that island. No idea about Sumeru, could be Apep's guardian? Haven't done the quest yet.

But... what about Liyue?

Isn't Morax technically the dragon? Has he taken his power back from archons during the war? Was there never a goes archon to begin with? Then why did he have a gnosis?

Love you Zhongli, but you and your contracts are getting more and more suspicious...

[ilikerosesalot]

Paimonds pronouns are she, not her, cause she'll never be her 😔😔😔

[mikuyuuss]

Ngl, as much as I love fontaine, if Genshin fumbles Natlan again like it did with Inazuma and Sumeru (I'm noticing a pattern here) I seriously thinking of just dropping Genshin Impact altogether