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Updates the Dionaea Page
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Changes some stuff and brings it up to date with how the species exists
now. Adds a few paragraphs with additional information.
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PurpleMartinJCK committed Apr 23, 2017
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111 changes: 79 additions & 32 deletions Species/The Dionaea.md
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Dionaea, Diona for singular, are sentient plant-like (note, not actually
plants) creatures that have a three stage life process: seed, nymph, and
'adult'. Seeds grow into diona nymphs, which eventually evolve into
adults. They are not a race meant for science experimentation, and
killing one is considered to be murder.
plants) creatures that have a three-stage life process: nymph, humanoid, and
gestalt. Nymphs group together. They are not a race meant for scientific
experimentation, and killing one is considered to be murder.

- Take note that a diona nymph is not legally recognized as a person,
unlike the adults. Killing one is not to be regarded as murder.
Expand All @@ -18,44 +17,44 @@ bugged and will allow unwhitelisted people to join.
In a nutshell
-------------

- Nymph: puppy-like creatures with the reaction speed of a concussed
- Nymph: insect-like creatures with the reaction speed of a concussed
mollusk. Never more intelligent than a young child, usually hovering
around the 'particularly bright dog' mark.
- Adult: slow, both in thought and in action. No self-preservation
- Humanoid: slow, both in thought and in action. No self-preservation
instinct.
- Both states are curious to learn about anything they can.
- Incapable of feeling pain, largely emotionless, and very slow to
react to threats.
- Frequently incapable of understanding human cultural suggestions
like handshakes or sleeping.
- Communal intelligence - refer to themselves as 'we' unless trained
to use 'I' by exposure to other sapients.
- Communal intelligence - refer to themselves as 'we' as they
see themselves as being multiple creatures.
- If born from station seeds, cannot reproduce as a gestalt.

Mechanics
---------

- Use *,q* and *,w* To talk in the Dionaea language. ,q is local and
,w is global.
- Dionaea must be in lit areas to survive. Darkness will cause damage
and eventually death. However, light increases nutrition and
nutrition is consumed to heal brute and toxins damage.
- Dionaea must be in lit areas to survive. Darkness will reduce nutrition,
causing damage and eventually death. However, light increases nutrition and
nutrition is consumed to heal damage and regrow limbs.
- Radiation will also increase Diona nutrition without ill effects.
- Diona nymphs are grown in hydroponics trays in botany.
- Diona nymphs can be grown in hydroponics trays in botany.
- A Diona nymph gains evolution points by being in direct light. They
are not able to learn how to speak most languages until they evolve
into full grown Diona. They are generally non-hostile and do not
are not physically able to speak most languages until they are in
a group. They are generally non-hostile and do not
need blood to survive, despite what the space tabloids say.

Synopsis
--------

The dionaea are a group of omnivorous, slow-metabolism plantlike
organisms that are in fact clusters of individual, smaller organisms.
They exhibit a high degree of structural flexibility, and come in a wide
variety of shapes and colours.
The dionaea are a group of slow organisms that are in fact clusters
of individual, smaller organisms. They exhibit a high degree of structural
flexibility, and can form themselves into multiple humanoid shapes in
an attempt to blend in to humanoid societies.

An adolescent diona, known as a diona nymph, will usually wander around
An individual diona, known as a diona nymph, will usually wander around
the station to attempt to soak up as much information as possible.
Nymphs learn by observing their environment, which has led some crew
members to believe them to be pests and annoyances with their constant
Expand All @@ -66,14 +65,14 @@ cycle eventually results in the humanoid diona, in their 'seed' or
'samen' state, making a pilgrimage of sorts to a communally agreed-upon
site - either a gas giant or a star, depending on the 'strain' of the
individuals. Once there, they interlink their bodies and enter an orbit
around the celestial body, fusing and merging into a fledgeling
around the celestial body, fusing and merging into a fledgling
superorganism that will eventually grow to the size of a space station.
The gestalt feeds on the gasses and emissions of the star or planet,
converting them into myriad useful forms or storing them in sacs and
bladders for buoyancy in atmosphere, or in recent years, for trade with
interested bodies.

Prior to this transformation, the dionaea spread their samen throughout
Prior to this transformation, the dionaea spread their humanoid samen throughout
the galaxy. They do so by imitating the forms and modes of speech of the
races that they encounter, picking facts and thoughts from minds and
using them to shape ambassadors. The trade of energy and rare matter
Expand All @@ -82,7 +81,7 @@ seeds throughout cultures, and the seeds will gather as much information
as they can, developing into wildly unique and interesting individuals
to bring as much variation as possible to the gestalt when they merge.
They will also collect scientific information on bioengineering,
genetics, chemistry and biological science in order to improve their
genetics, chemistry, and biological science in order to improve their
gestalt state and therefore the seeds that will eventually be produced.

Contact
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -163,25 +162,30 @@ The Tajara have no documented contact with the Dionaea.
Language
--------

While smaller Dionaea are capable of vocalizing languages from all
While smaller Dionaea clusters are capable of vocalizing languages from all
manner of other races, thanks to their fluid form, they tend to do so in
a monotone or as a series of heavy bass rumbles or grinds. They come
across as very slow and not very smart in Siik'tajr due to the relative
slowness of their 'ear' and 'tail' growths, but communicate very well in
Sinta'unathi. They cannot speak Skrellian at all due to the pitch
variations required.

Their own language, colloquially called Rootsong, is based predominantly
on the emission of radio and heat waves and as such is very very
difficult to speak without several hundred kilograms of specialized
machinery. Sadly, a diona nymph can not learn the language until they've
fully grown into the adult stage. There are two versions of this
language, one being localized and the other being more globalized.
Their own language, colloquially called Rootspeak, is based predominantly
on the emission of electromagnetic radiation and as such is impossible
for others to speak or understand without several hundred kilograms of
specialized machinery. They use two different forms of Rootspeak. The first uses
low frequency radio waves and has a very limited range. This has been
translated to "local" Rootspeak. The second uses tremendously high
frequency radio waves and is used to communicate over very long
distances at light speeds. It is theorised that Dionaea use this
so called "global" Rootspeak to communicate within or beyond solar
systems. Lone nymphs are unable to produce the high frequency
waves, they can only do so in a group.

Mentality
---------

Dionae are highly curious, intelligent (if slow) and passive. They feel
Dionaea are highly curious, intelligent (if slow) and passive. They feel
pain of a sort, though in a very different manner to humans, but are
only able to emulate emotion. An 'adolescent' diona will generally take
on observed traits of the entities around it as a side-effect of the
Expand All @@ -194,9 +198,32 @@ across the face of the iron mountain and the deep note of the
planetsong'. This has been known to make Heads of Personnel need to go
have a lie down when filling out ID cards.

Contrary to popular belief, dionaea aren't inherently pacifistic. Rather,
they don't typically understand why a being would purposely injure another.
In fact, while they emulate many behaviours they observe from intelligent
species, there has never been a case of healthy dionaea forming a pattern
of violence. It is theorised that there are inherent biological mechanisms
that prevent this habit from forming, though they may demonstrate
instantaneous violence if directly instructed by others.

They have no concept of personal or mental space, and those who are new
to human culture tend to be excessively touchy-feely or invasive of
privacy.
privacy. They also have more difficulty holding themselves in a humanoid
shape and moving in a human manner. This can lead to very unnatural looking
behaviors such as when they forget which ways their knees should bend.
Because they have so many eyes, forgetting to 'face' who they are speaking
to is common as they don't see themselves as having a front and back. Humans
usually find this creepy and unnerving, the shifting mass of uncoordinated
nymphs resembling something from a horror movie.

As they become more accustomed to being around humans, they pick up more
mannerisms and fit more in with the humans around them. The small mistakes
that can make humans uncomfortable typically drop off in response to the
negative feedback they receive. The longer they are in human culture, the more
difficult it is for them to find sources of novel information. If they then
find something new that is denied from them, they are all the more insistent
and are not above using all the social tricks from their time among humans
in order to recover it.

Dionaea have nothing resembling government. They speak about the chorus
or song of a group in the same manner that one would talk about teamwork
Expand All @@ -205,18 +232,36 @@ or membership in a group.
Biology
-------

![Reference Picture][1]
*A diona nymph in the arms of a child.*

Dionaea for the most part don't 'breathe' in any sense. They sometimes
intake and expel gasses as a means of discharging waste and assisting in
internal cooling, but they have no dedicated exchange membranes or
respiratory channels. They don't have a central circulatory system
either, instead using capillary action within the segments of their
bodies to move fluids and nutrients around (similar to many plants).
Their nervous system is underdeveloped and decentralized, with the
neural matter of the component dionaea merging into a complex strata of
neural matter of the component dionaea merging into a complex stratum of
tissue that can often take up many cubic meters of space. For this
reason, the large a diona becomes, the slower it will think, but the
larger its information processing capacity will become.

An individual diona, a nymph, is about the size of a cat. It is
reminiscent of an insect with the surface of its 'flesh' being tough
and protective. However, unlike an insect, it is the same consistency
throughout its body. It has several legs underneath, each coming to a
sharp point that move in a wave as it walks around. Underneath, it has
a strip of material that seems to have a high coefficient of friction
with other nymphs and it is theorised that this helps them to stay together.
It is thought that they have a system similar to a nervous system where
cells use a signal in order to work in a network. These cells lie
throughout the body of the nymph with several resting close to the surface
of their bodies where they can hook and unhook them from a central neural
stratum at will. They have a single lidless eye and seem to have poor
night vision. They have long slender antennae that seem to act as
radio antennae, allowing them to 'hear' local and global Rootspeak.

Dionaea don't have DNA. Their precise means of storing reproductive
information is unknown to modern science but does not match any
currently known form of cellular life. Dionaea are cell-based, but their
Expand Down Expand Up @@ -272,3 +317,5 @@ surface of the stars themselves. Such a state makes them impossible to
contact with conventional transmissions, and no pattern or encoding has
been detected in the emissions from the system; it is unclear if the
gestalts still exist or if they ever existed at all.

[1]: http://i.imgur.com/KvpHYwj.jpg

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