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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 23, 2018 6:34:08 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Sorassan article directory.SQUID PEOPLEThe sorassan strike an awkward balance between abject unearthliness and uncanny familiarity. They require oxygen to breathe, but in bizarre combinations with other elements. They are able to eat some foods edible to humans, but find most toxic or even deadly. They are rational, reasonable creatures with complex social structures built on mutual cooperation, but suffer language barriers bordering on impassable. The vast majority of the hurdles the sorassan face stem back to their biological mismatch with their surroundings. In face of their history and their constitution, however, they have persisted and proliferated along the margins of Set's human majority. SECTIONS- General Anatomy, Legs, & Mouth- Hydraulic Skeleton & Head- Torso Features
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 23, 2018 6:35:44 GMT -5
GENERAL ANATOMY, LEGS, & MOUTH
The sorassan hold a dubious claim to their humanoid status. While they have a distinct head and torso roughly similar to humans, they have no arms and wildly different legs. In lieu of arms, their legs serve as their primary means of interacting with and manipulating their environment. Their sensory organs are distributed across the height and width of their torsos. Their heads hold no internal organs or external features save for their brains. Other internal organs are held within their torso, primarily in the abdomen. Most sorassan come in at no more than 5ft (1.5m) tall, but rarely fall below 4ft (1.2m).
The sorassan have anywhere between three and seven triple-jointed legs, each ending in hand-like claws. Two of these claws end in three sharp talons meant for navigation in difficult terrain. The remainder, regardless of how many, end in four softer, more dexterous claws. When odd-limbed, the asymmetric limb extends from the waist, and is often used solely for grasping. The amount of legs on an individual is indicative of their lineage; sorassan with more legs are more likely to have had ancestors in wintry climates with heavy snowfall. Lower leg counts suggest more placid origins.
Sorassan mouths are located on the bottoms of their torsos, in the small gap between where their legs meet. Their mouths are entirely inflexible; they are unable to chew or break down food. Large food objects must be torn apart by hand before eating. Inside, the mouth leads to several digestion chambers, which slowly loop back around to their mouths. Waste is expelled through a separate orifice adjacent to the mouth, towards the rear of the body. Young sorassan grow with their mouths at their waist or groin, which slowly migrates to its adult location between the legs. Some, however, do not go through this transition. The lack of mouth migration is usually tied to leg count and is more common in even-legged individuals than odd-legged individuals.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 23, 2018 6:36:14 GMT -5
HYDRAULIC SKELETON & HEAD
Sorassan do not have rigid skeletons and instead have semi-solid bundles of cartilage forming a pliable skeletal structure. Where needed, this cartilage is reinforced by hydraulic supporting structures, particularly along the legs and back. Their skin is comprised of tissues derived from their skeletal cartilage, which are arranged into fluid-filled membranes with strong shock-absorption characteristics. Sorassan skin is a dark, pinkish brown, occasionally flecked by granules of copper gathered in some locations on the torso. Oxygenated sorassan blood is a faded pink, while deoxygenated blood is a sickly yellow resemblant of human bile.
Running between the ridges of each individual is a liquid-filled column of loose cartilage roughly analogous to the human spine. The sorassan spinal column is dedicated primarily to supporting the back via hydraulic action. Other organs use the spine as an anchor and receive their supply of blood from vessels wrapped around it. Despite protruding from the back a notable distance, the sorassan spine is significantly more flexible than its human counterpart, but suffers significantly in load-bearing capacity. In addition, while the sorassan spine is flexible, tissue on the front of their torsos is not. In particular are the eye sockets; overburdened sorassan can sometimes eject eyes should their spine flex backwards.
The sorassan head is a hunched, featureless lump the size and shape of a faceless human head. It is supported directly by their spinal column, which attaches at the direct rear. Sorassan have no neck and their head is entirely rooted to their shoulders. Behind several layers of tough cartilage, the sorassan brain lies split into three separate nodes, each individually anchored to the spine and central nerve cord. Of these nodes, the central is the most prominent and responsible for most sorassan brain activity. The remaining two vary heavily in size between individuals. Larger nodes may force the head to bulge out at the cheeks. In some individuals, the head features several prominent cartilage protrusions streaked by copper and various other conductive metals taken into the body. These cartilage plates serve no functional purpose and are generally considered vestigial.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 23, 2018 6:36:37 GMT -5
TORSO FEATURES
The sorassan torso is noticeably top-heavy, with a broad chest layered with reinforced, semi-rigid cartilage. A trio of compound eyes forms a large, inverted triangle across the chest. Each eye protrudes out a short distance and is capable of a wide field of vision. In addition, most sorassan are capable of seeing some wavelengths of ultraviolet light. This all comes at a certain cost; sorassan visual acuity is limited, and many are colorblind to reds and blues. A significant portion suffer from severe hypersensitivity to ultraviolet light and are completely blind during daylight hours. Sorassan with ancestry from colder climates are particularly vulnerable to this condition.
Running out from the center of the triangle formed by the eyes are two breathing slits, which serve as the primary means of breathing and vocalization. Adjoining the breathing slits at their bottoms are four additional orifices that can be opened and closed at will to alter the passage of air and the pitch of any given breath. While the sorassan are capable of a wide vocal range, few are capable of human speech - and fewer still are willing to learn it. The limited collection of sorassan able to speak human languages typically sport airy, raspy voices and struggle with complex syllables.
Along the outer edges of their backs, each sorassan has a long pair of semi-cartilaginous ridges, running from the tops of their shoulders down to the small of their back. Both ridges serve as a function similar to antennae. They serve as the primary sources of smell and hearing, and provide a limited sense of an individual's surroundings by sensing minute vibrations in the air around them. Excess body heat is radiated through the ridges, and the ridges themselves are able to partially collapse and retract inwards in cold environments.
Along the flanks of the torso are a series of egg pouches containing unfertilized eggs. When fertilized, the eggs gradually swell with growing young and begin to bulge off the sides of the individual. On rupturing, the pouch left behind remains an empty cavity that quickly heals over with a loose fold of skin. The environment inside the nook formed by the fold is carefully coordinated by the parent's body to incubate their child. The nook supplies vital nutrients via diffusion through the skin and provides safe storage for the otherwise-immobile infant. After a period of one year, the skin ceases to provide sustenance. It remains a hollow cavity for the rest of the parent's life.
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