Creature:Swiftick (concept)
From SporeWiki, the knowledge base dedicated to Spore
| Swiftick | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Creator | Mason11987 (more content by Mason11987) |
| Stats | |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Other information | |
| Locomotion | Walking/Running, Swinging and Flying |
| Environment | Air and land |
| Size | 10 ft. high |
| Lifespan | 10 years |
The Swiftick is a fairly tall, agile, carnivore. The Swiftick relies on a strange combination of it's large wings and jaws to swoop in and eat it's prey. It's tail/tentacle allows this animal to grip tree branches to hang or to quickly change directions in mid-flight. It is also possible to use the tail to manipulate objects or deal with enemies.
Contents |
[edit] Timeline
A brief history of swiftick development and civilization is shown here.
[edit] Metamorphose
The most interesting feature of the Swiftick is it's ability to "morph" it's body parts, to easily rotate and bend it's body and even it's bones in order to fit it's current situation. It uses this ability in fighting, running and many other activities, but most clearly in flying. It's "natural" shape is shown in the infobox.
[edit] Flight
The Swiftick uses it's wings to swoop in and capture prey in it's large jaws. It's tusks are also used to pierce and incapacitate prey so that they can be moved to a safer location.
The legs and arms all move horizontally to help with balancing the Swiftick in air and easily grip branches or other similar shaped objects to change directions. The mouth rotates below the body to drop on prey unsuspectingly and the tail spins below the body to make room for the mouth.
[edit] History
[edit] Tide pool phase
The swiftick started existence off as an extremely agile single-cell capable of movement in many different directions very quickly. The tentacles on the top of the cell acted as sensors to inform the little guy of any threats that could be approaching. The curled up flagella at the bottom is used to constrict prey and to accelerate while escaping from predators.
[edit] Creature phase
The swiftick emerged from the with very flimsy limbs. Evolution took it's course until the flimsy limbs of the swiftick hardened into what appeared to be strangely shaped legs. But the structure of the Swiftick legs and leg muscles allowed it to snap it's legs backwards while running in order to catch up with it's prey where so that it could spear the prey through with it's tusks and pincers. For quite a long time the Swiftick was the apex predator of it's ecosystem. There wasn't a single creature which could take on the swiftick for a million years.
But finally, overpopulation struck and the food dwindled. Land prey was almost non-existent. So while thousands of swifticks died of starvation, a small group started using their tails and claw hands to help them climb up trees to capture some more elusive aerial prey. This wasn't an easy process and some Swifticks could go days without eating anything. Thankfully their digestive system had been improved during overpopulation so that they could retain as much nutrients as possible from each meal. As with land prey, the Swiftick didn't take too long to become a serious threat to other life. For thousands of years the Swifticks lived off of birds and the infrequent land prey.
In order to capture these birds the swifticks would climb to the very top of the highest trees, from there they would use their four eyes to spot prey camouflaged on branches. The swifticks would leap from their perch with their powerful legs and stretch their pincer arms out wide to pounce on their prey, destroying branches in the process. The Swifticks with more powerful legs became more fit to survive because they were able to leap further to reach their prey.
Eventually, those pincer claws started to become webbed, which gave the Swiftick the ability to float further. This didn't take on very quickly at first. Since Swifticks with webbed pincers were able to survive not much easier then Swifticks with stronger legs.
[edit] Death from above
About 1 million years after the ascension into the trees a group of swifticks were roaming through a jungle where they saw strange lights in the sky. They were mesmerized as the lights danced around. Suddenly another set of lights shined in the distance and began to fire at the first set of lights. The swifticks climbed their trees and watched. The first set of lights destroyed the second set of lights and then shined a very wide green beam up into the sky. The lights and the beam stayed there for a full day, and hundreds of confused Swifticks looked into the sky at the show.
Without warning the thing in the sky was destroyed by a barrage of lasers sending debris to the surface of Illia. Four sets of lights crowded around the area where the first lights were. And they flashed large wide blue beams into the sky. That was the first time the Swifticks noticed the large object in the sky, it appeared to be the size of the very large light that made everything bright everyday. But this object continued to grow in size. The beams from the four things intensified and they seemed to be slowing the object down but not quick enough.
The four sets of lights turned off their beams and disappeared off into the distance, never to be seen again. The object continued to grow until it covered the entire sky. The swifticks looked up in amazement as a massive asteroid plowed into their planet, Illia.
The immediate strike claimed the lives of 10 million Swifticks as well as half the species of the planet. The following 500 years would show the perseverance of the Swifticks to survive.
[edit] Recovery
The asteroid that struck the planet flooded the continent of Philo, the major continent of Illia and the only home of the Swifticks. The other continents would not be discovered until much later in the existence of the Swifticks. The continent of Klick to the west had it's entire eastern half submerged. The relatively small island continent Mycloo (My-clue) to the southwest lost about half of it's total landmass to the floods. The islands of Janna, Kalla, and Raca to the northeast were completely wiped out. The continents of Quantos and Flasha to the east were both split in half creating new islands of East/West Quantos, and North/South Flasha. The continent of Granean to the southeast had it's low-lying outer areas flooded, and a small lake created in-land.
The blast from the asteroid and following radiation caused some strange changes in the Swiftick. New baby Swifticks would often be born with extra limbs sprouting from their upper knees. Since these "arms " were folded back during running and jumping they didn't hamper the development of the Swifticks at all.
Large areas that were once plains became swamp areas and the ecosystem started to change. A new threat, called the ghoken started to gain superiority. This was an ancient lizard that had existed much longer then the Swifticks had. But the fact that the majority of Illia had been either land or sea with little swamps had caused this creature to shrink in numbers. The new swamplands allowed the ghokens to take over huge swaths of land on Philo. Swifticks in those areas were devoured whole by ghokens and they started to take to the trees and then the skies almost exclusively. Now living in more sparsely forested areas, the Swifticks developed a need for some kind of gliding. The internal makeup of the Swifticks allowed their body to morph slightly to fit it's needs. Generations of Swifticks focused on reaching further when they jumped and as time went on, only creatures with webbed claws were able to survive. As the food diminished once again due to the Swifticks and the ghokens competing for prey the swifticks moved up into the mountains were trees were few and far between and ghokens couldn't be found. These Swifticks managed to survive on their gliding abilities from tree to tree and on by growing their pincer claws further out to keep themselves warm in the cold nights. Small groups of Swifticks clung to the swamps and managed to survive but only barely.
[edit] Enlightenment
While the swamp Swifticks clung to life the mountain swifticks had evolved into their current form. Claws had grown from their now fully functional arms and are used to better balance the creature during flight. These mountain Swifticks continued to flourish, using their now fully functional wings to swoop down and capture their prey. Growing populations forced some of the mountain Swifticks back down to the swamps where they were once again greeted by the ghokens. This time equipped with their wings and knee claws they were able to survive the creatures attacks. But the ghokens were becoming smarter too and had been spending hundreds of years attempting to climb up the trees their prey lived in. Once they were able to scale those trees it wasn't long before the wingless Swifticks were extinct. The winged Swifticks in the swamps began prying off branches and using them for defense against the ghokens. Large flocks of Swifticks crowded together on trees to defend themselves from the ghokens. A simplistic form of communication developed during those deadly battles in against the ghokens and this led to the earliest sparks of sapience.
The Swifticks were able to overcome their adversaries by using the knowledge of their ancestors. Each Swiftick was born with the memories of their parents. These large masses of memories which were completely unexplainable to the Swifticks may have delayed their rise to sapience but upon the creation of a simply language they started to understand this gift that they had. There were many mundane memories that each swiftick shared, but only a small portion of them shared the memory of the lights, thousands of years ago. A mythology began about the lights and the subsequent asteroid and as the swifticks new found intelligence blossomed, they joined together to honor these memories and the lives of their lost ancestors.
[edit] Tribal phase
[edit] Political geography
Generations had past and eventually the isolated groups of Swifticks joined into 9 distinct tribes that have their locations shown on the map to the right, as well as the location of lights before the asteroid impact.
- Tribes (pronounced)
- Atta (at-ta)
- Terot (tear-oh)
- Swinsy (swin-sy)
- Peolos (pay-o-los)
- Evolu (ev-o-loo)
- Wailo (why-lo)
- Naucea (now-see-a)
- Uut (oot)
- Ya (ya)
- X - Lights before asteroid explosion
[edit] Early survival
And so was the beginning of Swiftick civilization. The 9 tribes interacted very little for the next few hundred years. Each tribe developed more or less independently, but they did have some contact with each other. Individually the Swifticks were extremely capable hunter and explorers, when they began working together in tribes their progress increased exponentially. They became exceptionally good fishermen and so they began to focus their lives around their tribes portion of water. Each tribe had their own area. The Atta, Terot, and Swinsy tribes all fed off of the northern river system Inita (In-it-a), the Atta closer to it's source, and the Terot and Swinsy at it's northern and southern deltas, respectively. The Peolos and tribe survived around the meeting of the tributaries of the Reaglos (Re-a-glos) river and the Wailo tribe around the meeting of the Buma (Boo-ma) tributaries. The powerful Evolu tribe flourished by claiming territory over the large Moontoon lake which the Reaglos and the Buma constantly flowed into. The Naucea tribe focused on a small sound just on the eastern tip of Philo. The Uut and the Ya tribes had to feed on different prey then the other seven tribes. The Zlay (slay) river the Uuts lived by was very barren of fish and so the Uut continued to develop their land hunting skills, and started working on foraging and farming earlier then most other tribes. The Ya tribe, separated from the others by the exceptionally high Treno (Tree-no) mountain range experimented in boating and eventually sailing. Preferring the larger (although less plentiful) ocean prey.
[edit] Tool development
In general the progression of the Swifticks was a little slower then average. They rarely needed any kind of tool in order to acquire what they needed, their wings, fast legs, and claws allowed them to catch and subdue almost any prety they desired. Their tusks were especially useful in fishing and foraging.
- The central tribes
The central tribes (the Peolos, Evolu and Wailo tribes) were extremly focused on fishing, they each developed spear-like tools around the same time, and also significantly sooner then the other tribes. Being enclosed by other groups of swifticks forced them to acquire food more efficiently. The Evolu tribe held fast to it's claim on Montoon lake and all trespassers were removed by any means necessary. The Peolos and Wailo tribes became expert spear fishermen, but the threat of the ghokens was very high in these two wide rivers. The populations of these two tribes shrank, but those who survived passed on their legendary speed and hunting skills to later generations. They both became able to avoid ghokens almost always and soon enough the ghokens found themselves with almost no food. The few who had survived in these wide rivers and swamps moved further downstream to the lake. As ghoken sightings increased among the Evolus, they were forced to find a solution to this problem. Since the ghokens had not been a threat to the Evolus in many generations they had grown a very large population, having dozens of minor tribes in the Moontoon lake area. The heads of these tribes met together on the eastern shore of the lake to discover a way to rid themselves of the ghokens. The head of the Evolus, Grand chief Eekay proposed a wide scale hunt of the ghokens using a newly developed underwater spear sling (harpoon-like). The Evolus used their massive numbers and hunted the ghokens to near extinction. The dominance over their ancestral enemy empowered the Evolus to greater triumphs.
- The northern tribes
The northern tribes of Atta, Terot, and Swinsy faced far fewer challenges then the central tribes. Wide plains of plentiful prey and the near ghoken-free Inita river system made life fairly easy for these tribes. The three tribes had all formed very similar mythologies about the lights that had been seen many many hundreds of years ago on the northern plains. Some members of these tribes began to fully understand the Swiftick shared memory and attempted to propogate inter-joining between the three northern tribes who all understood the possibly enormous meaning behind the lights. These three tribes didn't grow especially large, but they all realized the potential of knowledge as the generations moved on. Some of the most beneficial and original inventions came from the northern tribes, such as the invention of the bow and arrow by the Attas, as well as early irrigation, first attempted by Terot members. The northern tribes became more and more inter-dependent as the years would go by, blurring tribal lines along the way.
- The southern tribes
The southern(ish) tribes of Naucea, Uut, and Ya had unique early histories.
The Uut tribe being low on aquatic food focused almost exclusively on the prey in the southern plain regions. They developed elaborate trapping methods and the Uuts became especially fast runners, relying less on the long-range tools like the Atta, and more on speed and brute strength. They trained daily for the hunts they would engage in and they also developed early defensive clothing, thick skin from their largest elephant-like prey that they wore day and night in order to grow more adapt to it. They also focused on stealthily action, often raiding the Wailo tribes to the north in the night, and planting seeds to frame it on the Evolu tribe. They discovered the Ya tribe early in their existence, but forgot them soon after, seeing them and their resources as insignificant to Uut success. The Uut tribe despised the Naucea tribe but since their was no obvious benefit in going to war with them, they left them alone as well.
The Naucea tribe was very relaxed. They focused most of their life around the ocean and exploration, they frequently hunted in the lower ends of the Buma and Reaglos rivers, since the Evolu tribe had little interest in that area. Harsh relations with the Uut tribe stirred fear among many of the Naucea because the Uut tribe was so dangerous and numerous. Innovations in sailing were invented during these times as early Naucea scientists believed there must be more to their planet, other lands they could go to and be rid of the Uut forever.
The Ya tribe had a very harsh existance. Soon after development as a tribe they realized how little space they had. Attempts at exploring the Treno mts proved futile and so development of sea worthy vessals was a necessity. Ya seamen traveled almost all the way to the northern end of Philo before turning back, assuming that the mountains went on forever. Trips around the mountains to the south and east proved hardly more fruitful with the meetings with the Uut tribes. These creatures on the eastern side of the mountain were deemed unfit for the Ya tribe, and so they enclosed themselves in their area of the continent. Courageous sailers going further and further West until they discovered the continent of Mycloo. The presence of this continent was a deeply guarded secret and only the highest in Ya society even knew of it's existence, only a hand-full had seen it.
[edit] Age of disruption
It wouldn't be long until alliances would be formed and battles would be waged.
- The Great River War
The Peolos and Wailo tribes had become very good at catching their prey, so much so that very little life flowed down into the Moontoon lakes. The growing population of the Evolu tribe caused food shortage problems and force the Evolus to claim land further and further up the Reaglos and Buma rivers. The average Evolu believed that they had a right to whatever food they could acquire and they had to take that land. In secret though, the Evolu leaders had been hoarding food, and spreading lies about Peolos and Wailo tribes. In turn the Peolos tribes became even more outraged at the Evolu tribes, and the Wailos were calling for war to counter the night raids by Evolu scouts. The Peolos and Wailo tribes met in the middle plains several times to discuss terms for a potential alliance. Time after time the meetings ended badly, the Peolos not as willing to send such a large force against the Evolu with their deadly harpoon weapons, and the Wailo desperate to seek revenge for the constant attacks they were receiving. In the seventh, and what would be final meeting between the heads of the two tribes, the Evolu raided the meeting area, capturing and beheading the leaders of both tribes. The Peolos tribe backed off and retreated further upriver, near the mountains, the Wailo tribe immediately went on attack against the Evolu. The Evolu had superior weaponry and numbers and it wasn't long before the Wailo tribe was completly dispersed. The Evolu moved much up the Reaglos river but upon attempting to spread further upstream of the Buma, they were met with fierce Uut resistance and were forced to back down and only claim half of the land they had overrun
- The enlightened alliance
The norther tribes heard about the war to the south and continued to forge ahead in knowledge and learning but focusing more on military then they had before. The leaders of the Atta, Terot, and Swinsy tribes met and formed an alliance. Each tribe stayed independent culturally and politically, but militarily they were run as one. The union would be known as The Enlightened Northern Alliance of Atterosy (at-ter-oh-sy), or ENAATS for short. The founding of this alliance also marked the beginning of a recorded calendar, with the years following being called "Years of the Dawn of Light", for example the signing of the ENAATs alliance was in the year 0 DL, with the years previous being referred to as "Years of Before Enlightenment", or BE.
- The southern tribes
The Naucea tribe continued spreading north and east, making sure to say as far away from the Uut tribe as possible. Excursions into the eastern sea had discovered East and West Quantos and the Naucea proclaimed ownership over those islands. As the Naucea population on the Quantos islands grew, their presence on Philo dwindled until they held onto little off of the eastern coast of the continent.
Uut spread powerfully, their espionage and sabotage missions against the Wailo tribe had allowed them to move in quickly as vengeful Wailo soldiers left settlements empty in their attacks against the Evolu. The Uut tribe as a whole shifted north in order to claim the newly vacant lands before the slowly advancing Evolu tribe could acquire them. Resistance against the new Uut claims was large but slowly the Uut tribe was able to coax the Evolus into relaxing their grip on these lands. On the eastern front, the Uut continued to slowly coerce the Naucea tribe to the East. The Uut correctly believed the whole Naucea tribe would move to their tiny islands to the East, and the Uut was more then happy to let that happen. They also kept a close eye on the Ya tribe. Relations were average but the Ya seemed boring, although capable.
The Ya tribe continued to explore the far reaches of the continent of Mycloo, developing large ships to transport settlers to this new land. Their were many useful resources to the West and the Ya planned to use them in the coming generations to understand more then just what the Uut would allow them to see.
[edit] City/Civilization phase
The emergence of cities and full civilization
[edit] Political geography
The layout of territorial possestion on the map to the right is based on the groups listed below
- Atta (at-ta)
- Terot (tear-oh)
- Swinsy (swin-sy)
- Peolos (pay-o-los)
- Evolu (ev-o-loo)
- Wailo (why-lo) [Disbanded]
- Naucea (now-see-a)
- Uut (oot)
- Ya (ya)
- The shared land and borders of the Enlightened Northern Alliance of Atterosy (at-ter-oh-sy) ENAATS
- Unclaimed land
- Inaccessible territory
- X - Lights before asteroid explosion
Land which is striped in different colors is currently contested land between the colors that stripe that area.
Larger dots are capital cities, smaller dots are small cities, towns, or forts.
[edit] Relationships
As of this stage many complex relationships formed between the various tribes on Illia.
- ENAATS
The tribes of ENAATS have a very close relationship with one another, though not without conflict. The Atta and Terot groups have had minor conflicts due to disagreements over the holy land which is located just between them. None of these conflicts broke out into physical conflict but only political disagreements between tribe officials. The Swinsy tribe accessed the holy land through Terot land and their relationship was fairly good, they often felt like the odd one out in the alliance though, due to their separation from the holy land.
The Swinsy tribe had conflicts with the Naucea tribe for centuries with the land between the lower Reaglos and Bumas rivers in conflict. The Swinsy tribe rarely traveled into Evolu territory near Moontoon lake due to their volatile nature. They had contacted the Uut tribe at a few occasions but most of the meetings had gone poorly and they rarely made expeditions that far south anymore.
The three ENAATS members had close relations with the Peolos tribes though they felt they were uncivilized and kept most of their secrets from them.
They hadn't yet made contact with the Ya tribe.
- Peolos
The Peolos tribe being decimated by the Evolus spent their days attempting to cling to the northern groups, though it often proved futile. They had seen the treachery of the Uut tribes and had learned of their secret night raids against their former allies the Wailo.
The few remaining members of the Wailo tribe were being protected by the Peolos as best they could, and were slowly finding their place in their new home.
They only knew of the Naucea tribe indirectly from the northern tribes but had never been able to make contact with them. They also had never met the Ya tribe.
- Evolu
The Evolu tribe saw itself in a precarious situation, they had a vibrant and growing population but privately they quarreled among themselves. This was largely due to the tribal leaders disagreements on where to best defend and expand their territory.
Some believed that efforts should be spent removing the Peolos tribe, in order to secure the full length of the Reaglos northern tributary. This would remove a front from their defense and provide for great trade along the length of the river and good fishing and other resources along the rivers. In opposition some claimed that it would be wasted resources, citing the poor resources the Peolos tribe appeared to have at their disposal.
Others believed that access to the ocean would open up great possibilities for expansion as they had heard from their negotiations with Naucea tribes of other lands off this continent. Of course this would require intervention in affairs in the east which may cause conflicts in contested lands with the ENAATS tribes and the Uut tribes. Though, access to the Buma river delta would be critical to transportation and trade in the Evolu territories.
Very little civil contact has occured between the Evolu tribes and the Uut tribes, they met in conflicts after the eradication of the Wailo tribe, but since then there has been an uneasy ceasefire with little discussion between the two tribes. Some tribal leaders stress the need for access to the upper Buma river, but with the Uut war machine poised on those routes, it seems unlikely.
Most of the Evolu leaders are in agreement that some expansion to the Inita river system would be beneficial and have only minor risks.
The Evolu tribe has never made contact with the Ya tribe
- Uut
The Uut tribe doesn't have much in the way of relationships with other tribes.
They believe the Ya tribe are nothing and their territory is meaningless and so they largely ignore them. They feel largely the same about the Naucea tribe.
They have been in many conflicts with the Evolu tribe since the claiming of the Wailo territory. Though Uut believes that Evolu is not a serious threat, they recognize them as a legitimate force in the world and are not yet prepared to take on the strategic tactic of going against them, especially in their swamps and rivers, where the Uut are not as familiar.
They know of the Peolos tribe though have little communication with them, and assume that the Evolu tribe will likely eradicate them soon.
The ENAATs tribes are an interesting anomaly. They have quite a large military and could be a future threat or perhaps an ally. They seem more concerned with their philosophy and religion then with warfare, but their weapons are amazingly effective.
- Nauce
The Naucea tribe has had a troubled existance. They are being pushed south and east by the Swinsy tribe, and north and east by the Uut tribe. It is likely that soon they will lose their territory with additional threats from the Evolu tribe. The Naucea tribe has never made direct contact with the any of the other ENAATs tribes, or with the Peolos tribe. They also do not know of the existence of the Ya tribe
- Ya
The Ya tribe has only ever explored their small swath of land, they've never been able to cross the mountains and upon traveling south east they have met only the savage Uut tribe. They know that the Uut tribe is involved in affairs further to the north but have know knowledge of those activities and so feel isolated.
[edit] Missionary work
[edit] Space phase
[edit] Notes
Image (and following ideas) made using the Creature editor 2.0 by Huggkruka and Hydromancerx at the Gamingsteve forums. GS Swiftick thread.
| Creator | Mason11987 + |
| Diet | Carnivore + |
| Environment | Air and land + |
| Image | Swiftick concept.JPG + |
| Lifespan | 10 years + |
| Locomotion | Walking/Running, Swinging and Flying |
| Size | 10 ft. high |
