so i have a non FoN NPC in the GM camp, an ousted Lord Steward of the planet, who has just become engaged to the Vaylen FON NPC (who is truly a Vaylen). in a color scene, she seduced him, choked him unconscious and took out her Medical drone with its 20 surgery skill exponent to install an optic nerve hull. previously, she found out that the PCs were developing mass scale vaylen detection technology, so that’s why she needs to do the optic nerve hull.
what do i do now?
do i burn a new vaylen? i mean, this is technically a one LP vaylen, right? a fresh naiven. since the vaylen gets the skills of it’s host, it seems as if i just use the regular stats for the NPC i’ve already burned, and add a few vaylen traits because the vaylen gets all the host’s skills, die traits, etc. right?
on another note. how do naiven reproduce? i kind of wanted to establish that these were her own children that she was injecting into her people. i mean, they are aquatic flatworms, right? research shows that aquatic flatworms reproduce through internal fertilization, and then spawn the eggs into a liquid. she could conceivably have created a vat full of worms in her little lair with the help of another naiven, right?
Use the NPC’s stats. If you want more than a 1 LP worm, I think a Circles test is in order. That’s what all those clan affiliations are for.
I’ve got no idea how they reproduce. Chris is busy with Comicon this week, so I don’t expect him to be around the boards. So your guess is as good as mine.
“on another note. how do naiven reproduce? i kind of wanted to establish that these were her own children that she was injecting into her people. i mean, they are aquatic flatworms, right? research shows that aquatic flatworms reproduce through internal fertilization, and then spawn the eggs into a liquid. she could conceivably have created a vat full of worms in her little lair with the help of another naiven, right?”
I haven’t given Naiven reproduction much thought Johnathon… Aquatic flatworms are a fine analogue though. Go with it!
Funny enough, I was thinking about Naiven reproduction today as well. The biggest issue with parasite reproduction is getting the kids out of the host body into new host bodies. For Naiven, given the location, this is especially important. You don’t want to damage the brain or spinal cord by filling it up with worms.
I should dig out my copy of Parasite Rex (an excellent pop-science book on parasites, their study, their place in popular culture, the basics of their biology, and what role they play in ecosystems). It mentions a whole ton of clever parasite strategies for getting out of weird spots in the host’s body.
Off the top of my head, I suspect that becoming Vaylen—at least in the case of a sufficient advanced host—may suppress reproduction in the worm. Only when free in the water do Naiven actually reproduce, making them strange for a parasite. Though, less complex neural systems might not cause the same suppression, and thus lead to baby worms crawling out the hulling hole, or passing through less intense barriers in softer bodies. And, of course, a body could be engineered to facilitate Naiven reproduction and safe deliver of new Naiven to holdings tanks.
You’re welcome. I can’t find anything in Parasite Rex about worms getting out of the brain (they tend to end up their by accident in general).
However, cerebral spinal fluid does eventually vent (though it is not entirely clear if it goes out through the lymph or circulatory system, at least as far as I can tell with a quick read through Internet sources). However, it seems like it vents near the mouth/noise regardless.
So, if Vaylen do produce more Naiven while in a human host, they’re probably spitting out/sneezing out worm eggs. If it is a lymph exit, the tonsils connect up to there, so you could have egg worms/new worms wriggling around at the back of the throat until the Vaylen has a chance to deal with them.
Of course, since Naiven don’t need a host to survive, they just need to get out of the body as opposed to out of the body and directly into the proper kind of host. That sort of makes life easier for them.
So, if Vaylen do produce more Naiven while in a human host, they’re probably spitting out/sneezing out worm eggs.
Okay, that’s just horrifyingly awful. My interpretation was that Naiven don’t reproduce except in the sea. Once they’re in a body, they’re done breeding… there are a million Naiven that have nothing better to do with their time than breed. But Tim’s visuals are making me reconsider… “worms at the back of the throat.”
Yes, given that Naiven seem to be by nature free living the reproduction is suppressed by becoming Vaylen is sensible. I mean, I’m sure the whole encoding thing does crazy stuff to their bodies.
On the other hand you can have a scene where someone puts the hulling hole in the back of someone’s neck and then kisses it to make it all better.
Makes sense given the mastery over genetics. Really, it isn’t like they need more worms, but on the other hand they seem really motivated to spread well beyond the resources available. Not surprising given that beneath all they’ve achieved, they’re worms.
So, you get a Vaylen pediatrician who hulls kids and has them come in to treat the “tonsilloliths” they get—harvesting all those new Naiven, which can be used in hulling more kids.
The worm is too fascinating and terrible a foe to be squeamish about. We must dissect every aspect of them, immerse ourselves in them as they immerse themselves in us, and come to know their existence as they come to know ours. Only then can there be victory.