|  Author | Topic: Hmte (Read 85 times) |
DL
Moderator
Nightlife Moderator
member is offline
Joined: Sept 2005
Posts: 196
Karma: 3 |  | Hmte
« Thread Started on Jun 18, 2007, 6:41pm » | |
(The following is excerpted from a report from the staff of Northedge Academy to certain unspecified law enforcement agencies shortly after the first of the giant ants known as Hmte began to appear. Shortly thereafter, a group of adventurers destroyed the nursery of what they thought was the primary nest. )
It is an ant of seemingly ubiquitous species, non-stinging, carnivorous predators but innocuous to humans - and indeed all mammals - because of its small size. This creature is modified from its usual form to compensate for its larger size. Its legs are oddly bowed, to enable it to move at lightning speed. The thorax is strangely structured, and contains an anomalous fluid containing high-energy compounds, supercharging it's musculature for the feats of strength typical of an ant.
The carapace is also strange, in material if not in structure. This chitin demonstrates the properties of an ablative laminate, fragmenting under high impacts while channeling piercing damage into harmless regions of the ants body.
The spiracles are vastly modified, presenting as a series of interlacing muscular structures more similar to lungs than to more usual insectile respiratory organs, but still different in kind. Nothing like them has been used to breathe by any other organism on earth.
Finally, the heads structure presents telling traits on the question of how these creatures perceive the world. The eyes are compound, and very underdeveloped - they can sense light and darkness, and possibly movement, but it is unlikely that the visual sense is directional. The sense of hearing is decentralized over the head, thorax, and even legs, and is specialized to detect and locate low frequencies - it is unlikely that they can detect normal voices, but they can easily find footsteps and impacts, or possibly even heartbeats.
But of course the chief sense of these creatures is olfactory. The antennae are segmented, articulate and extremely complex along their distal segment. They not only receive odor but generate pheromones, permitting the ants to communicate between each other. The abdomens generate substances which can be used to retain simple odors over long intervals, rather like an olfactory 'post-it note'. But the antennae generate and perceive much more complex and precise scents, but also fainter ones, permitting short-ranged but sophisticated communications. These antennae are vulnerable to being 'blocked' by various substances, including flour, until they can be cleaned. But the interesting detail is that the membrane of the antenna is alcohol-permeable, meaning that exposure to strong drink will produce a brief but intense intoxication.
The brain is very simple and specialized, almost as if it was only part of a brain, just enough to keep the body moving, and a little more.
|
I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming;
Sometimes gets me in trouble too.
But the truth is, I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true.
-Buddy Mondlock
_____The Kid |
|
DL
Moderator
Nightlife Moderator
member is offline
Joined: Sept 2005
Posts: 196
Karma: 3 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #1 on Jun 18, 2007, 6:52pm » | |
Hmte appears to react to changing circumstances by 'casting', the process of feeding and tending for larvae and pupae in such a way that they grow into adults with specific desirable traits. After the destruction of the nursery by Mithril, Hmte saw a need for a kind of worker that could move easily and observe and record information on it's environment for later contemplation. This could be smaller than the workers, fortunately - smaller adults took less time to develop.
Very good samples of the scouts were acquired due to the fact that when they are caught, they don't put up quite as much of a fight as their larger siblings.
The scout ants are easily recognizable as ants on a casual inspection. Their antennae are very well developed, and their eyes are proportionately larger and more compex. To an extent, literally - through sheer luck, Hmte's casting of the scouts produced optic structures that were both motion sensitive and color sensitive. The chitin is paler than usual, softer and more pliant but less protective. In itself, a scout is not much more dangerous than a normal rat.
Their real danger is their ability to absorb, retain, and present data including complex sequences of events involving precise numbers of moving objects and animate creatures. For all that, however, the nervous structures responsible for such abilities are not their own - their personal brains, located in their heads, are capable of remembering orders pheromonally addressed to them and obeying them. The communal brain, located in the abdomen, is the larger and more powerful instrument. It has no precise corollary in natural insects, and it's placement means that a scout requires slightly more food proportionately than a worker. Scouts usually 'live off the land' more than workers, who take food they find back to the colony proper before digesting it and providing it for the groups needs.
Soldiers are much tougher, fighting to the bitter end. It is unlikely that Northedge Academy will get an intact specimen unless some truly exotic means of capture are used. Nevertheless, the anatomical observations are fairly complete.
The soldier's entire structure is adapted for combat to Hmte's specifications, meaning that although it's similarity to ants is visible, it would be easy to mistake it for an entirely different species.
A few of the features of the soldier didn't need upgrading from the workers functions, so they aren't much larger, making them look proportionately smaller. These include the antennae, auditory organs, and scent communications glands. The auditory sense is broader in scope, however, permitting the soldier to hear higher frequencies and with more directional powers. They have possibly the equivelant of human hearing, perhaps even sharper on lower frequencies.
The chitin is the same composition as that of workers, but is thicker and structured differently. The ablative traits have been enhanced by the addition of 'spare' chitin, in the form of rows of spines and furrows that channel force into the thickest surfaces. The spines are also defensive against grappling - essentially they are covered in 'thorns'.
The soldiers' head is more rectangular than workers', the mandibles having great muscular anchors. The mandibles themselves are long and jagged, being hooked on the tips and having ugly shearing surfaces around the midpoint. They are pure weapons, losing a little versatility in return for damage infliction power. Soldiers cannot feed themselves, and must have workers on hand to predigest their food and get it to their mouths. A lone soldier might be able to subsist on high protein liquids, if it could find them.
The soldier's eyes are similar to those of the scouts, but are greater in number. The larger surfaces give them better perspective; soldiers are sensitive to color, movement and distances. This enables them to acquire a more complete picture of their immediate surroundings than other castes, and accordingly the personal brain of the soldier is more developed. Soldiers have stronger decision making abilities than other castes of Hmte, and although their scent abilities enable them to interact effectively with their siblings they can also act independently of the colony for as long as it takes them to starve to death.
The thorax contains the same energetic organic compound as the workers, but many more muscles with more complex groups. The arrangement of the legs presents a soldier with more versatility in it's movements, with a slight loss of speed being the result. Soldiers are not as fast as workers, but the legs are good for more than mere locomotion, being heavier and more spined along their outer edges in addition to having slightly sharper 'claws' at the ends. The legs are functional weapons, especially the forelegs, being adapted for holding prey still for the mandibles or stinger (see below). The other legs are longer in the distal segments and heavier on the nearer segments, giving the soldiers the power to jump nearly twice their own body length in almost any direction. The clinging survaces of the feet are not much larger than that of the workers, meaning that although they can cling go vertical or inverted surfaces they are even slower in such locomotion. In addtion, they are very unstable upside down, using brachiation (curving the tips of the legs around protrusions, hanging and swinging therefrom) wherever possible.
The abdomen is long and thin, retaining no communal stomach and being speciallized for respiration and stinging. The soldier has a straight retractable sting about four inches long, thin and smooth, perfect for injecting a formic acid based poison into prey. This venom attacks the nerve receptors only, doing little organic damage but inflicting pain of crippling intensity for four to eight days without treatment. The abdomen is muscular and flexible, anabling the soldier to sting adversaries at almost any angle.
|
I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming;
Sometimes gets me in trouble too.
But the truth is, I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true.
-Buddy Mondlock
_____The Kid |
|
DL
Moderator
Nightlife Moderator
member is offline
Joined: Sept 2005
Posts: 196
Karma: 3 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #2 on Jun 18, 2007, 7:04pm » | |
(Excerpted from the last report sent from an underground survey team with the task of investigating a recently discovered cave complex. The team has not been heard from since. The worst is likely.)
....are the giant ants! It's where they are! It's...there's a new kind! They're upright! They are using tools! I repeat, they are using tools! They are walking on five legs, and using one leg and their mandibles to work tools!...runes, glowing runes on their carapace...and their eyes!...the workers are tending to it, but it's not like they...it's a garden! They are creating a garden for their food! It's a Garden of Flesh!...there are billions...
|
I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming;
Sometimes gets me in trouble too.
But the truth is, I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true.
-Buddy Mondlock
_____The Kid |
|
Jeff Wilson
Newbie
member is offline
Joined: Jul 2006
Gender: Male 
Posts: 20
Location: Evansdale, Wyoming
Karma: 2 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #3 on Jun 19, 2007, 1:52am » | |
Oooh...looks like Rusty is gonna have some fun!!! Most informative
| |
|
The Nefarious SM
Administrator
The Ultimate Admin
member is offline
![[avatar]](http://www.geocities.com/ehzoterik/icons/conen1.jpg)
Multiple Personality Disorder
![[yim]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/yim.gif) ![[aim]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/aim.gif)
![[homepage]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/www_sm.gif)
Joined: Sept 2005
Gender: Female 
Posts: 423
Karma: 10 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #4 on Jun 20, 2007, 3:39am » | |
Excerpts from all 2003 issues of Ubique's Weekly (you better love me for this):
14 September 2003: There is a mysterious monster which has been consuming various animals and homeless persons from underground. Its most recent feeding grounds have been the vicinity of the Silver Moon Inn.
21 September 2003: The mysterious monster that's been consuming various animals and homeless persons from underground has finally been revealed as ants. But not ordinary ants at all. These over two foot long ants invaded the Silver Moon Inn itself at least twice this past week and so far have been chased away by the combined efforts of the patrons.
6 October 2003: Hmte, the sentient giant ant colony, is going into hibernation for a while. Mithril successfully attacked the nursery, the room in which the eggs and larvae are nurtured on Sunday night. Hmte's first reaction was to withdraw all its bodies back to its nest to purge the nest of all creatures not itself in an orgy of violence. In the days since then, however, except for a wave of much smaller and rather innocuous giant ants - about a foot long, pale in color, and apparently harmless - there has been no activity of any significance. There have been no reports of anyone entering the nest since then and getting out alive...
10 November 2003: Small, pale ants have been sighted in various places. They have caused no damage or injury; they just scurry out from under things, and run away. Back to Hmte. Falling from the pages of one of our past top stories, it's a wonder that the whole of Rhydin hasn't acquired a new and overwhelming fear of ants. We'll keep you posted if anything takes a turn for the worst, but until then Rhydinians might want to look into keeping aardvarks as pets.
17 November 2003: On Friday night, the Silver Moon Inn suffered another not-so-malicious attack from the forces known as Hmte. Dris (BardGaIIant), Galad (Galadriendil), Laurel (Laurelin Snow) and Shun (XShunkun) were witness to an invasion of the small ants that have been clustering around the SMI lately. Small in relative terms, of course -- this particular case only consisted of the scouting one-footers. Unbeknownst to the witnesses, the ants were actually present to communicate to the sentry ants that were already lingering about theSMI. When they subsumed themselves into a fraction of the group-mind that is Hmte, they had this thought, "I am almost ready. The new ones are almost ready. Within the next day, the field test will begin. Leave only a few, to observe." Very shortly after that the visitor ants departed, leaving the observers to hide and wait.
Then it was on Sunday evening that the second wave moved to action. Max (Maxwell Spades), Gem (Gemethyst), Kevin (Kevin N Summers), Loranthias, Rachael Macleod, Toho (XPriestTohoX), Zeke (XZekeilDrakeX), Akito (XHayama), and Blythe Afton were present to witness as the Silver Moon Inn was assaulted by a giant ant. This one was accompanied by a number of small, 'scout' type ants. This particular creature was four feet long, dark red in color, and possessed a functional sting as well as serrated mandibles, clawed feet, and spiked and barbed chitin. It badly injured Akito and battered almost everyone in the room before Zeke hit it with a fireball that reduced it to ant pot pie. What is worse than this new breed of ant is Hmte's reaction to it's death. The hive-mind appeared to be satisfied with the outcome, as if it got what it wanted out of the encounter. It is expected that there will be more waiting in the wings...
One of our more devout researchers had this to say of what was witnessed: "The creature at the door is an ant, but nothing like the one foot long pale ones, and even more awful looking than the two footers. It is nearly four feet long, and everything about it is wicked in appearance. The chitin of the thorax is twisted into spikes and hooks, as if the creature is wearing a cathedral. The legs are of a similar kind, barbed and seemingly clawed. The abdomen, by contrast, is thin and flexible looking, waspish. But worst of all is the head; in addition to the long, serrated mandibles, the facial structure seems to have an expression, a fixed look of savage voracity, cunning and hungry rage."
Another eyewitness was even bold enough to send us a handful of freelance photographs of the scene. The aspiring Nick Summers (Kevin NSummers) had this to say: "Well, I just came from the Silver Moon after witnessing a gigantic ant, (uglier than I've ever seen in my life!) and a swarm of smaller, but no less gigantic ants come in and terrorize everyone. A few people got hurt, and there was a fair bit of damage, but after the rampage the creature was killed, burned to death."
The above photograph was chosen amongst the many sent in to help give our readers a better understanding of what Rhydin is dealing with! We here at Ubique's are personally praying for a miracle or the arrival of some godly hero to rid Rhydin entirely of the atrocious presence that is Hmte.
24 November 2003: Sunday night, Hmte made yet another assault upon the Silver Moon Inn. Witnessed by Colleen and Toho, Leviticus, Cat, Gem and a number of others, the ants (workers mostly but three Soldiers as well) made a run on the front of the Inn. They were primarily repulsed by Donatello Harada and Syd (SmileFang). The patrons quickly discovered that one ofthe few things that could work reliably on the Soldiers is very intense fire. Shortly thereafter, the two maniacs made an abortive assault on one of the tunnels to Hmte's lair with a satchel ful of explosives. The destruction was total. Don and Syd were seriously injured, both of them stung by a soldier, and then caught in the force of the explosion that collapsed a number of Hmte's tunnels near the SMI. Hmte was agitated by the disruption - although injured, the explosion might have increased Hmte's power in the long run, as it spurred it to further thought --and personal developement...
Shortly after, on that same night, Duncan (Duncan H Harper) had another encounter with a Soldier, in a park near the SMI. He survived, of course, but he wasn't happy...
Early this morning we were informed of several eyewitness reports concerning unexplainable remnants of webbing littered about a nearby park in central Rhydin. Forensics investigators proclaim that some sort of battle occurred in the park overnight, yet they are still somewhat baffled on precisely what the warriors involved might have been. A thick molasses like substance was found dried near the crime scene.There have also been reports of insectoid like tracks discovered retreating into the surrounding foliage. It has also been said by one reporter that, "There was an outline of something in the webbing that I'd say distinctly looked like a monstrous sized ant or something. "While officials at this point are not being too cooperative with the media, it can be said that perhaps a historical Clash of the Chitinous went down overnight. More on this story when it becomes available.
|
"The point is you see, that there is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later." -- Ford Prefect. Life, the Universe, and Everything
"I like tea okay, but it's just kind of like work." -- DL
--The Nefarious SM |
|
The Nefarious SM
Administrator
The Ultimate Admin
member is offline
Multiple Personality Disorder
Joined: Sept 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 423
Karma: 10 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #5 on Jun 20, 2007, 4:22am » | |
Excerpts from all 2004 issues of Ubique's Weekly:
19 January 2004: Friday night, Hmte attacked the SMI yet again, and was repulsed by, among others wielding guns and swords, Mestrangelo and Black Xaje, who annihilated one soldier and about a dozen workers. As the remaining scout ants disappeared, the pheromonal message that resonated through the air was, "Threats there, some of them observed, next generation must have greater visual acuity, faster reflexes, resistance to corrosives, and more independent intelligence. And reshaped for opportunistic advantages -- the threats seem to take a single form."
2 February 2004: (relevant) Apparently the cellar of the Silver Moon Inn is not subject to the 'self-repair' feature of the rest of the building, or perhaps it just seemed a bit fragile to him, but Twelve the Grikkyn took it upon himself to reinforce the floor since the attack of Hmte last week. His work is crude, but quite solid. As a result, there is now so much timber reinforcing the floor and walls of the cellar that there is barely enough room to store things. Whoops...
9 February 2004: (Storyline Spotlight!) The plot of land in which Hmte has made it's lair is known to be easy walking distance of the Silver Moon Inn. Onto this land someone built a two-story house, with an attic, some time ago. A mansion which had been on the market for some time when it was bought by Old Man Moore. Rimbo Moore had been an adventurer in his youth. He partook of a rich haul from the hoard of a dragon. Perhaps some of it was enchanted; certainly Moore started demonstrating some dragonish traits. He felt a strong urge to take his share of the treasure and hide it away, never spending or displaying it. He bought the house and the land surrounding, hid his treasure away somewhere in it, and kept guard over it for the next thirty years. The house he maintained not at all; he invested in a good roof, and excellent bars and locks, and then let the dust of decades accumulate. He then would sit for hours in one chair in one room, then move to another one, barely sleeping, eating meager foods, and burning twigs to keep himself warm in the winter time.
Through all this time, Hmte was growing. Somehow, the colony established itself more or less directly under the house. Shortly after Hmte achieved sentience, it shed its timidity and killed Moore, leaving the house proper abandoned.
It is now a dilapidated structure. The front door has not been used in a generation, and the gardens and topiary are wild and unkempt. The back door was once quite solid, but has been reduced to kindling. The explosion inflicted by Mithril, the ensuing turmoil the subterranean colony of Hmte, and the massive snowfall this year have all resulted in the house slowly collapsing into its own foundation. There is some good furniture inside, jumbled and dusty, almost all on the crooked and warped ground floor; Moore cleared the second floor and the attic in order to simplify his own security. Very little of Hmte's activity can be seen in the open surfaces; it generally uses the crawlspaces and dumbwaiter to get around within the house.
The cellar is by this time full of rubble and timber. The shattered construction has been rebuilt for Hmte's purposes, the result being that anyone who isn't a two foot long ant will not be able to make it through without difficulty. As for the lair of Hmte proper, below the cellar, it is known that the larder, and quite probably the first chamber of the colony, is a natural cavity that was once the carcass of a huge creature, possibly a dragon itself. It was hollowed out by Hmte simply eating the flesh of the creature away, and the resultant cave is lined with an almost complete skeleton.
No one has yet found the treasure of Rimbo Moore.
(Editor's note: Makes you just want to have your character turn into a treasure hunter, doesn't it?)
29 March 2004: Word has it that an entire flock of sheep was eaten by giant ants Friday. It seems Hmte is starting to get hungry again...
14 April 2004: About three weeks ago, Hmte made a series of suicide attacks upon various Rhydin locations, including the Silver Moon. These attacks seemed rather simplistic, but given the fact that there has been almost no insect activity since, the sudden silence can only be ominous. Previous attacks have been a combination of suicide attacks with food-gathering activities. But these were much more concentrated in their intent - the giant ants just wanted to fight. Hmte has spent alot of energy in such an effort. One wonders what the return will be for the colony.
24 May 2004: After a long silence, the giant ants appear to be on the move again; survivors of a couple of attacks insist that the 'workers' and 'soldiers' that volatized a merchant caravan and an entire castle were accompanied by a 'kind of red wind; it blew through, and left wounds behind'. The implications are troubling.
28 June 2004: Oddly, Hmte has gone back underground. One can only assume this is in preparation for something big...
12 July 2004: Those who keep track of such things say the colony of giant ants has been concentrating its efforts in digging. Thefts and attacks have been kept to a minimum, but it is far too early to tell whether or not this is an encouraging development.
19 July 2004: The digging has stopped, mostly. There is activity - Hmte's territory is a bad place to be a rabbit - but Hmte seems to be waiting. It is unclear for what.
23 August 2004: The giant ant colony has occupied the Illithid Node in massive force, and it appears that Hmte is starting a creche there. So now the ancient biomantic psionically active fortification is in the possession of titanic carnivorous insects. Great, now even headlong flight won't be enough...
21 December 2004: Ecologists say that Hmte, the sentient colony of giant ants, has tunneled into a wide number of locations recently, increasing its population without a concurrent increase in its food collection. The results of this are easy to forecast -- Hmte is soon to resume raiding the surface in an effort to feed its expanding brood. Be on the lookout, especially in the Techno-dead zone to the north, the ancient Illithid Node, and the abandoned mansion that served as Hmte's original lair.
|
"The point is you see, that there is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later." -- Ford Prefect. Life, the Universe, and Everything
"I like tea okay, but it's just kind of like work." -- DL
--The Nefarious SM |
|
The Nefarious SM
Administrator
The Ultimate Admin
member is offline
Multiple Personality Disorder
Joined: Sept 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 423
Karma: 10 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #6 on Jun 20, 2007, 4:39am » | |
And finally! Excerpts from all 2005 issues of Ubique's Weekly (before I quit writing issues):
11 January 2005 A shipment of exotic meats from other worlds that recently landed at the space-port of High-town was destroyed early last week. The wreckage remaining on the landing pad included no animal protein of any kind, including the crew members who had been present. The pad itself had been undermined, and will be unavailable for use until repaired. The only security camera in use at the time captured one image - a kind of reddish blur flickering around the distressed ship, concurrent with the sound of the screaming of the crew.
Scans by law enforcement officials revealed large concentrations of insect pheromones, consistent with the activity of the colony of giant ants known as Hmte. We shall bring you more information on this story as it unfolds.
29 March 2005: It seems as if the forces of Hmte have been moving once again. Earlier this past week a large soldier ant and several worker ants invaded the Silver Moon Inn. The large ant stood six feet tall on five of its six limbs, and witnesses claim that it was carrying a sword! While that ant held off the patrons of the Inn, the worker ants made off with all the meat that was on the buffet. Colleen MacLeod (PrlUnicorn) is rumored to have been injured in the "attack", and Joe Yamada (GraySilencer) managed to capture one of them. The carcass has been taken to the local university to be examined by scientists. More on this breaking story as it comes to us.
19 April 2005: Two developments in the life of the sentient colony of giant ants - it appears that for truly incomprehensible reasons, the giant ants have ceased to attack humans. Animals yes, and elves, dwarves, gnomes, vampires, and anything else that diverges from the human form in any substantial way, but not humans. Even when they enter its tunnels. Caution is still called for in approaching or combating the ants -- given that its reasons are unknown, its policy could change at any moment.
The other development is the appearance of a larger soldier. The four foot long soldiers were about the size of a large dog, but the new six-footers are actually larger than most humans. And one of its limbs appears to be a functioning hand. It seems Hmte, not having been known as an extensive tool-user before, decided 'Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' If there is an upside, it is that the hyper-fast ants seen previously have disappeared.
|
"The point is you see, that there is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later." -- Ford Prefect. Life, the Universe, and Everything
"I like tea okay, but it's just kind of like work." -- DL
--The Nefarious SM |
|
DL
Moderator
Nightlife Moderator
member is offline
Joined: Sept 2005
Posts: 196
Karma: 3 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #7 on Jun 20, 2007, 5:47pm » | |
Okay, SM, I officially love you.
|
I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming;
Sometimes gets me in trouble too.
But the truth is, I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true.
-Buddy Mondlock
_____The Kid |
|
The Nefarious SM
Administrator
The Ultimate Admin
member is offline
Multiple Personality Disorder
Joined: Sept 2005
Gender: Female
Posts: 423
Karma: 10 | | Re: Hmte
« Reply #8 on Jun 21, 2007, 4:22am » | |
Hehehe. You're welcome. ^_^
|
"The point is you see, that there is no point in driving yourself mad trying to stop yourself going mad. You might just as well give in and save your sanity for later." -- Ford Prefect. Life, the Universe, and Everything
"I like tea okay, but it's just kind of like work." -- DL
--The Nefarious SM |
| |
|
![[Home]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/menu/home.gif)
![[Help]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/menu/help.gif)
![[Search]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/menu/search.gif)
![[Login]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/menu/login.gif)
![[Search This Thread]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/search2.gif)
![[Send Topic To Friend]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/sendtopic.gif)
![[Print]](http://s4.images.proboards.com/buttons/print.gif)
Logged