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Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 12:34 pm
by Aegis J Hyena
Somewhere, out there, in the depths of space, floats a lifeless, empty, Earth-like planet.

Okay, maybe not lifeless... as all manner of trees, plants, moss and ferns exist, dutifully transforming the carbon-rich atmosphere into an oxygen-rich one. Calm winds blow, the watery waves of the ocean lap at the beaches, and all is quiet; nothing stirs.

Until that is, the arrival of the superstorm to end all superstorms. Half the size of New Zealand, it forms off the coasts, a once-in-a-uncountable-time-frame event that threatens to rend the very continents in two as it makes its way across the world. The waters below it swirl and churn, dredging up primordial ooze that hitches a ride to the surface as a tornado begins to form.

Elsewhere on the very edges of the storm, a massive supervolcano erupts; its central chamber of magma explodes outward as the very earth quakes beneath it and causes everything above the surface to nearly shatter. Superheated boulders are flung miles into the sky only to be picked up by the superstorm and whipped around like pebbles in a sling. The primordial ooze slaps against such stones, boiling and bubbling and threatening to evaporate completely, leaving nothing but a dried funny-colored shell to show it ever existed at all.

A lightning bolt, the dagger of the heavens, pierces downward with a force that would put gods to shame and cleaves the superheated primordial oozestone into multiple pieces. The force of the explosion sends the pieces dozens of miles through the skies of the planet as if they were comets passing by, and with massive splashdowns the pieces reach their destinations and sink to the bottom of the depths. The combination of electricity, heat, oxygen, water and energy caused the primordial ooze to spontaneously evolve into a microbe... and very quickly this microbe divides to become two. Two become four, four become eight, eight to sixteen and onwards until the amount of bacteria in the oceans reaches numbers that we don't have names for yet.

That's... where you come in.


Alright folks, here we go again! ... ... ... what will you guys come up with next?

Give me a one sentence description of how this bacteria evolves to become the sentient (or one of many!) species on the planet. I'll take it from there. Each post will cover 100,000,000 years of time, and when we hit one million years in a week and a half's time, new paths will open up the same way they did last time. Let's see what you can come up with.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:00 pm
by LAYF
Some bacteria slowly develop the ability to excrete acids.

(I hope that was what you meant we should do...)

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 1:48 pm
by M0rtimer
Seems you accidentally double posted this... Do you want me to smite the other thread?

The bacteria grow tendrils (or tendril-like extensions), allowing them to better manipulate the area around them.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2017 10:41 pm
by twistedstraka
The bacteria develop a means of propulsion by absorbing and releasing the liquid/gas around them.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:01 am
by Patdragon
Excellent it's back. will it be percentile rolls again to see if traits are successful?

Either way my first choice for evolving a bacteria will be...efficient energy storage.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 6:12 am
by Arch Lich Burns
Albility to absorb other backteria's abilities in our tiny lifetimes!

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 7:16 am
by thinkslogically
I'm going to go with an ability to detect light (and ultimately use that ability to make ourselves camouflaged).

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 9:22 am
by BadgeAddict
The ability to mimic other bacterias that it comes across, blending in so well that the other bacterias can't tell it from themselves.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:42 am
by thinkslogically
Oohh, that's cool! Actually, instead of invisibility, I'd probably like to end up with mimicry of their surroundings (like what octopuses can do: https://youtu.be/aoCzZHcwKxI). That way we could mimic other organisms, but also be super camouflaged. HAve edited my previous post.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:45 am
by BadgeAddict
^Instead of just thinking about the here and now, I'm trying to think about what these abilities could become when we leave the ocean (if we do?).

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 10:58 am
by thinkslogically
Yeah me too - I think a race that can morph into anything or anyone would be sweet. Like a d&d mimic/doppelganger (or odo from Star trek ds9).

Octopuses are just the best thing in the world at doing this already so I used it as an example.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:43 am
by spiderwrangler
Perhaps by means of some form of quorum sensing? Chemical communication between individual bacteria that results in adjustments to their biochemistry based on density? So if there are enough cells in this area, they can merge together into different forms (like when Odo goes gooey and become something else). The bacteria end up being unicellular organisms that can function together to form different entities.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 12:01 pm
by BadgeAddict
(Question for you Aegis: Do you plan on doing this like LAYF has been, where instead of votes we suggest actions each time? Because, I like it that way better personally, it gives us more freedom to get ourselves killed in horrible ways... :P )

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:12 pm
by Aegis J Hyena
M0rtimer wrote:Seems you accidentally double posted this... Do you want me to smite the other thread?

The bacteria grow tendrils (or tendril-like extensions), allowing them to better manipulate the area around them.
Holy shit, yes. With a resounding cry of Smite... Evil! even. I'll get working on the post very soon. My link only had the original post.

I'll look into the suggestions as Layf does 'em, as it may prove... interesting later. >:D

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:32 pm
by Aegis J Hyena
100,000,000 Years

Acidic Excretions: 93 (Success; 90+ required)
Tendrils: 82
Osmosis for Movement: 48
Energy Storage: 25
Absorbing/Mimic Bacteria: 41
Detect Light: 5
Chemical Communication: 61

Current Appearance: Gooey Amoeba
Powers: Steering tendril, Defensive Acidic Aftertaste

100,000,000 years have passed. The darkest oceans slowly give way to the light of a million bioluminescent bacteria, of all shapes, sizes and translucent colors. All try to forge out a living in the deep depths, trying to survive over its "companions". Some develop cell walls too thick to pierce. Others develop a disturbing taste to keep opponents away. Still others flash chemical or electrical signals to scare enemies, while a small few grow to a size too big to be devoured.

U. Klixstem Faltoni, your bacterium, has evolved an extremely bitter aftertaste. The toxin slowly seeps into the enemy bacteria, rendering them camatose and easily surrounded for eventual digestion. This nasty stuff is having the side effect of poisoning the surrounding area -- while this is good to keep predators out, it's not good for trying to find prey. In order to move from place to place to try to find new prey (and leave predators behind) you evolve a small "steering tendril" that can control your direction -- moving is still sort of "with the waves" until you develop a better means of locomotion.

The poison you leave behind scatters other bacteria, meaning that many of your population are dying due to starvation. All is not lost upon the discovery of something going on in the water: the "background radiation" of the world is beginning to change; something in the atmosphere is piercing to the depths and leaving areas of "dead water" where oxygen is extinct. If you evolve a storage of some kind to hold onto energy, you can survive without oxygen and can hide in these dead zones. When bacteria drift into them, your acids will do the rest as they struggle to "breathe" (such as it is at this stage).

Five dangerous predators have made their way into the "survival of the fittest" arena. The first one, X. Hyea Aginessi, is a long worm-like bacteria with several segments, each bristling with jellyfish-like contact stingers. The second is T. Vopal Gravimorium, a toxic amoeba with an incredibly flexible body, allowing it to bend in shapes that interfere with predators' "throats" such as they are. The third is J. Ayeik Pondo, a too-dense-to-swim ambush predator that relies on impenetrable cell walls and a harpoon-like stinger. The fourth is D. Shloopi Dorfis, who has begun to turn into a parasitic life form connected to silica crystals floating in the water. The last is Z. Reditori Croctinii, who has learned to harness power from the waves themselves for sustainment instead of searching for meat or plant food.

There are small holes in the ocean floor, perfect hidey-holes to go in and wait for approaching prey in case U. Klixstem Faltoni gets a taste for bacterium. There are also heat vents nearby, for a larger burst of energy.

How will you evolve now?

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:56 pm
by Lurks_In_Shadows
Black smoker vents, eh? How about extremophile capabilities: The ability to tolerate extreme heat and acidity as well as extreme cold and pressure?

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:57 pm
by Arch Lich Burns
Ability to eat dirt/something else asides bacteria

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 1:59 pm
by thinkslogically
Let's say an ability to eat anything that gets poisoned by our poison. That way we can kill things but not have to starve while their corpses float away.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 2:09 pm
by LAYF
Okay. (i agree that being emune to our own poison would be great... Or to eat other stuff)
Hmm... Let's try:

Due to starvation, radiation and it's own toxic, the bacteria starts to experience deformities when multiplying... One such deformity means that a group of them suddenly won't detach from each other but can still move in relation to each other...

>Evolve a multicellular structure taking advantage of our tendrils and the new form to move more effectively.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:02 pm
by BadgeAddict
The ability to burst into small bits (like a swarm) while still maintaining "self". This allows it to survive while under attack.

(if two of us go for the same idea.. Does it get a boost in chances

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 3:50 pm
by M0rtimer
We should obviously work towards getting a series of crits and becoming cthulhic beings, ruling over the depths of the ocean and eventually claim the surface world... :roll:

To that end, I think volcano vents are the best bet to making that happen! How about the ability to absorb heat and use it as an energy source?

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2017 4:02 pm
by spiderwrangler
I support chemoautotrophs too!

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 3:35 am
by Patdragon
Teamwork/symbiotic relationship with another creature.

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:14 pm
by Aegis J Hyena
200,000,000 Years

Extremophile Potential: 67
Extra Food Sources: 81 (Highest roll, so it sticks)
Poison Resistance: 17
Multicelluar: 42
Swarm Burst: 50
Heat Absorption: 10
Symbiotic Relationship: 52

I'm cross-universing this with the OOTS game and the Reddit one, which were all begun at the same time. You will have rivals. >:D o:) In other news, no post tomorrow. Saturdays are my Roll20 day.

We've hit the 200,000,000 year mark, and here come the mutations and interesting things!

X. Hyea Aginessi's jellyfish stingers are having a strong effect on T. Vopal Gravimorium, whose bendy body isn't much help against the piercing. J. Ayeik Pondo too is subsisting on them when able, leading to a sharp drop in the T. Vopal Gravimorium population. X. Hyea Aginessi has evolved toxin resistances thanks to devouring said amoebas, while T. Vopal Gravimorium is attempting to counter with harder-to-pierce cell walls (and failing hard), and J. Ayeik Pondo itself is having a rough time since it can't really move along the ocean floor and is pulled about by the waves. It's (slowly) evolving feelers and tendrils to move about on, like a fuzzy aquatic computer chip with a stinger in the middle of it.

D. Shloopi Dorfis has learned to grow a crystalline cell wall thanks to feeding off the crystals, and now looks a little bit like a barnacle or limpet. The other predators are having a hard time getting through such a defense and as a result your population soars as they "idle" about, feeding off the crystals and growing its "radiation aura" to greater intensities. They've also created a crystalline lattice from absorption of the crystals, and this lattice is beginning to generate electricity. This in turn produces oxygen, allowing them to expand population that much faster. U. Klixstem Faltoni is not able to pierce their "shell", making it very difficult to use them as a food source.

U. Klixstem Faltoni instead decides that a best offense should take the shape of multiple food sources. As an amoeba (sorta), you begin using your steering tendril to search for more food, and begin feeding on a species of plankton or diatom that other species attempt to avoid. This pinkish plankton filters through to your appearance, coloring the bacteria an opalescent pink. More food sources you find include the corpses around the heat vents, and you begin to go to work on those, which smoothes the "spikes" to a shiny texture. Well, if light got this far down to shine on them, at least.

Today's main situation is the heat vents. Every now and again they explode, sending out superheated jets that reach untold lengths, warming every molecule of water that the jets come into contact with to very painful levels. The weaker bacteria get incinerated, leaving their charred corpses as material to build on the heat vents and making the vents resemble ghost-white spikes growing out of the ground, like the teeth of some vicious carnivore. The stronger are whipped into the currents and thrown about to higher layers of the ocean, where they're never seen again.

On the one side, being thrown into a higher layer of the deep waters will get you (maybe) away from your chief predator, X. Hyea Aginessi. Its razor-sharp jellyfish stingers are beginning to have an effect on your numbers and it's beginning to evolve a stronger poison to paralyze you. In second place is T. Vopal Gravimorium, which is learning to take in water and expand, to engulf you and constrict. On the other side, staying down here will give you better ideas about how to defend yourself for the future. Up there in a higher layer, who knows what might be evolving, and there may not be a source of weird plankton up there.

How will you evolve?

Re: Civilization XLCVIII

Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2017 1:26 pm
by LAYF
Living by the vents means that heat goes up... And so does some of the bacteria.

We evolve a higher "body temperature" and resistance to heat, killing anyone who wish to eat us by overheating them (and our poison should help too)