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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 22, 2018 18:52:46 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Pseudocrustaceans article directory.FIFTY SHADES OF STUPIDIt is difficult to predict the divergence in behavior between sentient and feral pseudocrustaceans. Some intelligent pseudocrustaceans fail to develop sentience and instead evolve only the capacity to use tools. Some develop inversely, forming complex societies in complete absence of technology. The ability to commune and the comprehension of tools are both spectrums that most populations rarely achieve the best of. As a result, few develop past simple tribes or primitive raiding bands.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 22, 2018 18:53:03 GMT -5
FEEDING BEHAVIOR
Most pseudocrustaceans are omnivorous predators with a strong bias towards soft-skinned creatures, such as mammals and fish. Most require a significant caloric intake to support their heavy bodies and rapid metabolism, often eating as much as three times their immense body weight in a single day. Water is in similar demand and many require regular access to bodies of water. Only pseudocrustaceans living in arid environments are excepted from these norms - and, often times, only marginally. In their favor, most pseudocrustaceans are able to digest virtually anything; raw sewage, dry dirt, human bones, and even redworlder flesh.
Sentient pseudocrustaceans are typically communal eaters with a preference for hand-to-mouth feeding. On most occasions, they will simply chew through whatever they have killed or farmed until there is nothing left to eat. For those communities advanced enough to understand the concept of cooking, cuilinary arts are not popular. This may even extend to instances of conflict with other species or even other pseudocrustaceans. Those that are killed or overwhelmed in combat may well be eaten - alive, even - by a swarm of voracious crabs made hungry by the sheer sight of blood.
Likewise, pseudocrustaceans are not above eating other sentient creatures, nor are they above cannibalism. Some groups may specifically target humans and other species, often purely for the sake of opportunity. More primitive societies may even consume their young in times of scarcity, either as eggs or juveniles. Fully mature pseudocrustaceans are rarely preferred due to their exoskeletons, even when weak or injured. In severe crises, a community may even turn to eating their homes for what little nutrients their bodies can extract from them. Many fledgling tribes have been found in half-digested ruins, dead and desiccated in the midst of an ecosystem that has been literally eaten away.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 22, 2018 18:53:14 GMT -5
PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE
As with their feral siblings, most sentient pseudocrustaceans are strong, durable creatures. Many can lift objects roughly three times their size and weight in their pincers alone. Most are clad in reinforced exoskeletons able to shrug off even small-caliber gunfire. Many feature redundant organs meant to support their larger nerve cord's performance demands. Wounds are often quickly sealed by rapid, efficient clotting mechanisms. All these combine to make the majority of sentient pseudocrustaceans some of the hardiest intelligent creatures on Set.
By comparison to humans and most others, however, pseudocrustaceans are ponderous creatures with slow reflexes and limited agility. Many are encumbered by their heavy, obstructive exoskeletons and suffer severe difficulties in perceiving distant objects. Their natural tendency to swarm aggressors or prey further complicates the matter, as any target that manages to circle around the group will often confuse all but the members on its nearest flank. Similarly, land-dwelling pseudocrustaceans suffer severe difficulties in righting themselves. When flipped over, it can take heavier species upwards of a minute just to return to their feet.
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