Velok the Younger
When I Was A Young Warthog
Name: Kusk Chwukkun
Designation: Non-sentient
Homeworld: Alchemically created at Fort Elsa on Kelsier; thrive best in Lake Krul on Balowa
Language: N/A
Average height of adults: 1cm
Skin color: Gold
Hair color: N/A
Breathes: Type I-II
Strengths:
- Parasite capable of outliving its host by several days
- Can withstand most toxins and pathogens
- Has natural defenses against intense light
- Physically fragile; effectively a film
- Loses consciousness when exposed to ysalamiri fields
- Can only reproduce when exposed to certain rare alchemical reagents, or Lake Krul on Balowa
- Loses consciousness if removed from an eye or a comparable environment for more than a minute; dies after five
- May alter host's ocular prescription to some extent, requiring contact lenses or corrective surgery
- Vulnerable to grit and microdebris
Distinctions: The Eyes of the Dunaan are a purpose-engineered Sithspawn, an ocular parasite designed to enhance vision. On the dorsal sides, they look like small, flat, golden or silver circles, bisected by a dark, tapered line; one end is marked by two almost unnoticeable dots, the creature's light-sensitive proto-eyes. The undersides of the creatures are a grayish pink. They swim by undulation.
When an Eye of the Dunaan are bonded to a humanoid's iris and pupil, the humanoid becomes aware of analogue colors to ultraviolet and infrared spectra (generally a yellow-streaked red and a blue-streaked violet, respectively); the Eyes of the Dunaan, after all, do nothing to alter the function of the retina. Between infrared perception and low-light amplification, the Eyes of the Dunaan allow the humanoid to see in extreme darkness. The humanoid sees a faint glow, disturbance, or increased contrast around items, locations or persons with significance to the Force.
The Eyes of the Dunaan, notably, are not easily fooled; virtually all Force-based stealth techniques lose a small fraction of their effectiveness, in the sense that a humanoid bonded to Eyes of the Dunaan may see a very faint rippling or disturbance around even the best-hidden Force-users and Force-related items. They are most effective at noticing fellow products of alchemy. As these effects are the products of the parasite's perceptions and Force-sensitivity (the host provides only eyeballs into the equation), the Kusk Chwukkun work for non-Force-sensitives.
These effects do not work well against the kinds of illusions that affect minds, or the White Current. They are best against bent-light/photokinetic illusion in its various and sadly common forms, though all such illusions only show up as very subtle disturbances. The effect can also be lessened by nullification resin, taozin amulets, Force dispersers, qey'tek meditation, Art of the Small and so forth.
Attaching the parasites is painful; removing them is not, unless one has worn them for months at a time.
The Kusk Chwukkun can metabolize Sith poison, slowly. It is not known whether the Kusk Chwukkun is capable of cleansing a host of Sith poison, but the Kusk Chwukkun is believe to find Sith poison very tasty, and can at least keep a host alive when exposed to high doses.
Though the Kusk Chwukkun work just fine for non-Force-sensitives, Force-sensitives can use the Kusk Chwukkun as an aid to Force-enhanced eyesight and Force Sight, at the risk of contamination/corruption/emotional influence by the Dark Side due to close interaction with this particular little Sithspawn.
The Kusk Chwukkun may work for near-humanoids, but are not guaranteed.
Average Lifespan: 6 months, assuming constant attachment to a host
Races: N/A
Estimated Population: A few tens of thousands, as befitting a small, recently engineered species with an artificially high reproduction rate.
Diet: Subsists on humanoid ocular excretions.
Communication: Can communicate with other Kusk Chwukkun through chemical markers, when in an inert aqueous environment.
Culture: N/A
Technology level: N/A
General behavior: Generally sessile. Will bind to eyes of all humanoids. Can be induced to detach with a fingertip; recognizes the ridges of partial fingerprints. (Recognizes only what constitutes a fingertip; does not recognize individual fingerprints. If it does not feel a humanoid fingertip, as with droid fingers, gloves, telekinesis or forceful rinsing/flushing, it will not disengage from the pupil and iris, potentially leading to very nasty injuries.) In an aqueous environment, the Kusk Chwukkun tend to swim in schools, and can create immense iridescent cloud-patterns.
History: The Eyes of the Dunaan were created through Rave Merrill's long-term partnership with the alchemically altered Seydon of Arda, and specifically through her examination of his eyes' capacity. Inspired by his capabilities, and by the functions of the Korriban Compass, Rave subcontracted the project to some of her staff alchemists and offered oversight when it hit various snags. Fundamentally, the Kusk Chwukkun is based on very tiny fish stock, but it represents as radical an alchemical repurposing as ancient Sith tracking device creatures. Less of an adaptation of Seydon's alterations, it is more of an attempt at convergent evolution.
After the creation of a variant that would breed true, the Kusk Chwukkun was introduced to Lake Krul in some numbers, in order to determine its viability when exposed to a high degree of corrupting, ambient Force. The Kusk Chwukkun, after several more accelerated generations and Merrill's personal alteration, was pronounced a stable species, and marketed.
The name 'Kusk Chwukkun' loosely translates to 'forever dreaming of embers'; as Merrill put it, 'you will see a new world, inescapably, and it will not always be pleasant.'
Notable Player-Characters: Don't tempt me.
Intent: To see how many people will stick Sithspawn in their eyes.
