Talyxian Memoryholders

"Memoryholders", what are they?
The T-Memoryholder or T-Holder for short, is a strange beast, it’s form is akin to a hermit crab you would encounter on earth, though of course a more alien aspect to it. They can be found all around Tal, though few in numbers they prefer to stick to the insides of the deep forests or swamps. They come in mostly shades of blackish hues and red colors.. They are quite the durable creature, though slow and heavy, they can put up quite the fight on their own; using it’s pincers, probe, and tough shell to its advantage. It has two main modes of activity, a hibernative state which can last up to dozens of years, or an active state which depending on the Memoryholder itself may be hyper aggressive to passive.

Sentience within these creatures is a mixed bag, some being sentient as an Eltus being, or some displaying the same sentience as a shellfish cow. Their personality varies wildly as well, some acting akin to benevolent otherworldly beings to others acting like feral animals. Though they all have a single goal in common, to assimilate the Eltus into its dream and hivemind.

The lifespan of these creatures are quite lengthy, insanely lengthy to say the least; as findings suggest some T-Holders have lived back to the original ecological disaster rumored to have disrupted Tal’s original ecosystem. Though, considering the many abnormal abilities and behavior of a T-Holder, they can be considered a “Conduit to the past.” It’s theorized these creatures used their hibernative states to live so long, or that they are simply unaging.

The most unique aspect of these strange beasts is their “Assimilation” ability. It’s achieved using it’s special probe; incapacitating a victim, and then inserting it’s probe into either their brainstem, or spinal cord, assimilating both mind and body within a few moments. It will also attach a special T-Parasite to the brain, serving as the main controller of the body. The body goes to the hivemind which job is to protect the T-holder; The mind, not to the afterlife, but a strange dream kept within the T-holder’s mind: for which they will be held in until the T-Holder’s death or something else occurs.

“Assimilated” What are they?
The assimilated is a grouping of Eltus being who have been “Assimilated” by the T-Holder; hence their name. The “Assimilated” are controlled by Talyxian parasites, the T-holder, implants within the victim’s body; which are controlled by the T-Holder itself via telepathy and other Psionic methods. It is possible for one to become free of it’s control, and become a “Sentient” though, it has the unfortunate side effect of making the parasite’s mutations more volatile and severe and will be covered later on in this post. These “Assimilated” have a common goal, which is to protect the T-holder and further it’s goals. “Assimilated” has two main categories, though both share some common traits which will be listed below. They will mostly remain the same as they look before, excluding the mutations that may occur, though they all are prone to “Blessings of the Zess” severe mutations that may grant advantages suited to their specific roles, though may also act as hindrances.

Some of the common traits the Assimilated have between the two categories are as follows;


 * 1) Changes to the digestive tract of the being, making them able to down edible Talyxian organisms and drink Talyxian water without becoming sick too easily. Along with a heavily increased resistance to the effects of Miasma.


 * 1) Mind alteration: Such as, “uploading” combat memories and such to a combat oriented Assimilated to make them perform better, and know common fighting styles and counters to them without having to study extensively


 * 1) General physical changes and such, along with strange mutations which follow along with the Main mutations the parasites perform.

One of these two main categories is the combat oriented Assimilated, they are mostly made of able bodied Eltus beings. Their main objective is to protect the T-holder, along with capturing more Eltus for the T-holder to assimilate. They mostly serve as frontline combatants and defenders for the T-Holder. They mostly remain their same look, though with the common mutations, along with a few mutations that can aid in combat. COAs can develop certain “Blessings of the Zess” an example of this is presented here:

“Chitinous desire”

Attributes:

Chitinous growths will slowly begin to form on one’s body, creating a natural armor of some sort. It will mostly form over vital spots first and then to other parts of the body. Most of the time, the placement of these growths won’t limit the mobility of the user too much, though still give them a decent amount of protection (Similar to a personally tailored suit of armor); though in rare cases the mutation may go out of control and simply encase the person in Chitin, severely limiting their mobility. The strength of the Chitin itself seems to vary, though seems on the stronger end, though a few well placed mace strikes can easily crush through this Chitinous armor.

Commonality:

This is quite a common “Blessing”, though it’s a rare case to find individuals who have reached “Full maturity” as most perish before the final stages of the mutation can take hold. In any case, those few individuals are a force to be reckoned with. This mutation is mostly seen in Agudners and Sergal COAs, and rarely in Nevrean COAs.

The other side of the coin in the assimilated are the POAs, standing for “Passive Oriented Assimilated.”; POAs come in many roles and forms, hunters, builders, etc and in rare cases blacksmiths. Though for today we will be specifically focusing on one type of POA, nicknamed: “Charmers.” Charmers are mostly made up of “Pretty” Eltus beings and those who have traits which align with the Judda form. They mostly retain a normal visual look to them, as to not taint their prettiness. The “Charmers” rely on seduction and charisma to lure unfortunate victims into ambushes or infiltrate Eltus communities. POAs in general are more likely to become a “Sentient”, though “Charmers” seem to be especially likely. An example of a “Blessing of the Zess” in a “Charmer” will now be presented here:

“Blooming desires”

Attributes:

This blessing is characterized by a person being covered in dozens of bizarre flowers, having a hypnotic property to them, akin to the creature seen in EP 2 of the Vilous manga. They won’t affect other POAs and COAs, though the hypnotic property will affect both Eltus and Talyxians alike. These flowers are quite uncomfortable to the individual possessing this “Blessing.” In extreme cases of this mutation it may outright kill the individual and turn their corpse into a massive hypnotic flower.

Commonality:

It seems to be a rare “Blessing” as it is preferred that “Charmers” remain relatively unchanged in form, as to preserve natural prettiness. Though the few that possess this “Blessing” are quite the interesting case to say the least. There are no major trends in preference of select beings in this mutation, though it seems to be slightly more common in Sergal POAs.

Mundane Mutations:

Assimilated will sometimes develop “Mundane Mutations” They don’t exactly affect the host too much, though may be seen as humorous or strange.

[Small prompt]
GARDENERS ASSOCIATION

INCIDENT #!$^&* LOG

[AUTHORIZED USERS ONLY]

Summary:

Incident occurred around midday at a quarantine station, local road guards proceeded with a normal cargo check: Upon searching the cargo of a trader from Magaci, they would find a sleeping Agudner boy in a hidden space in the Carriage of the trader. Initially thinking this was apart of a human trafficking ring, the trader was immediately apprehended. Upon examination of the boy, it revealed dozens of flowers growing underneath his fluffy coat, along with one seeming to grow from their left eye. One of the road guards present during the incident was sent into a catatonic state of panic after looking at one of the many flowers present on the individual's body; along with that several others were rendered incapcitated.

Thoroughly alerted and worried of a possible “Box event” unfolding at the station, several panic requests to neighboring stations. Thankfully whatever “Box event” that could’ve happened was quickly averted thanks to the efforts of our brave Red gardeners. The solution was actually quite simple…, place a blanket over the boy and apply a medical eyepatch to cover up the flower on the eye. Afterwards those affected in the incident would make a quick recovery thankfully, and would soon be back on the field.

Aftermath:

The boy recovered in the incident is now in the official custody of the Gardeners Association and will continue to be so until we can safely remove the flowers, and figure out the cause of this. So far we have removed a parasite which was inhabiting a part of the upper spinal cord; The result of this seems to be that the flower’s harmful effects seem to be nullified, along with no new flowers growing. For now he will be kept in an isolation unit under the care of Ward 3’s staff until further notice.

LOG END

“Sentients”
“Sentients” are a term to refer to a specific section of the assimilated who have broken free of their psionic bond with the T-holder. There are a few ways to escape this bond, such as one of the more obvious examples; Their respective T-holder dies or incapcitated to the point they can longer command. Many of these “Sentients '' keep to their own and form small to moderately sized communities in isolated locations, far from civilization. Unfortunately the price for this freedom isn’t free, as severe mutations are more common in “Sentients '', mostly for the worse and not the better. Personality wise these “Sentients” are a mixed bag, as the many memories from dozens of different people have left their personalities scrambled, only a few fragments of personality from each to form a jumbled amalgamation.

Their interactions with the Eltus people have been minimal overall, as “Sentients” prefer not to interact with the normal Eltus fearing ostracization among other things. “Sentient” communities mostly operate as closed states, not allowing other Eltus in, though allowing other “Sentients” and sometimes Talyxians into their communities.

“The Eternal Dream” What is it?
TED, or “The Eternal Dream” is a realm of consciousness kept within a T-holder’s mind. Minds of those who the T-holder have Assimilated reside here, and most will reside here until the T-holder’s death, though a few managed to break free of this Dream, though the exact method of escape isn’t known. It’s rumored to contain hundreds of people, from the rise of Rain silves and the Shigu, to the ancient Sieg migration to the south, along with many more places in history; they all share a common goal: to survive this strange dreamscape they now call home.

The appearance of these realms vary greatly from T-holder to T-holder, from abandoned never ending cities, a maze of streets and alleys; massive forests and thriving fields; to massive deserts which serve as transition zones between areas. The laws of reality and such work very very differently in this dreamscape, allowing for seemingly illogical events to occur, an example being; a solid Penrose triangle that causes insanity to those who view it; certain areas being locked in time loops; etc.

You are able to “die” in the dream, though you will wake up in a random location, akin to respawning in a video game. Another interesting aspect is, the ability to have children or in other words, people are able to be born into this dream, possessing full consciousness and such. There are other unique aspects though these are just some examples of these unique aspects.

Bonus:
Eternal dream

Eternal dream

Our mother’s Eternal dream shall last

Built by the gods to last through it all

Enduring the fires of today

Enduring the rain of tomorrow.

From the ever shrinking Eltus blue

To the ever expanding forests

You will endure

Built by the gods to last through it all

Enduring the peace of today

Enduring the wars of tomorrow

From the burning cities

To the empty countryside

You will keep us safe within

Built by the gods to last through it all

Even when our bodies have long since become one with the earth

When the skies turn white and the end begins

You will endure

You will keep us safe within

Because you were

Built by the gods to last through it all.