Approved Species Malus Lupus Mind Breaker parasite

[Aemulor the Hutt]

...its in your heeaad, in your heeeaad...​

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To create an alchemical modified parasite capable taking over and controlling a creatures higher functions.
• Image Credit:
  • Cranberries
  • Ticks
• Canon: n/a
• Permissions: n/a
• Links: n/a

GENERAL INFORMATION

• Name: Malus Lupus Mind Breaker
• Designation: Alchemical Parasite
• Origins: Creates in a lab based on boar wolf ticks
• Average Lifespan: a few days outside of a host, a few months in a host. Once the ticks die out in a host either by treatment or age, any mind controlling effects will begin to rectify themselves and recovery takes around 2 months in most cases.
• Estimated Population: Rare
• Description:
  • 6 legged insects a couple of millimetres long that look like common ticks that attack warm blooded mammals
  • Under a microscope their outer carapace appears mottled and corrupted by alchemical practices
  • Carapace is acid resistant to prevent digestive attack on ingestion

PHYSICAL INFORMATION

• Breathes: breathes oxygen through spiracles but can absorb oxygen though its skin from a fluid such as blood
• Average Height of Adults: 0.5mm
• Average Length of Adults: 1.8mm
• Skin color: mottled brown
• Hair color: brown hairs visible under microscope
• Distinctions:
  • Begin life as an egg laid inside a type of cranberry that has been alchemically treated. This then grows into a large that eats the inside of the Berry before emerging as the parasite itself. From to adult as approximately 3 days.
  • Will burrow to avoid light and speak warmth
  • Absorb nutrients and oxygen through their skin via diffusion
  • In a host they will burrow put of the small intestine and typically migrate toward the brain along the spinal cord but can take hold elsewhere.
  • Large numbers (a few dozen) can begin to supress a creatures higher brain functions. Early symptoms of infection include memory loss and ataxia along with bowel discomfort.
  • As infection progresses the host becomes almost animalistic and will only respond to base instincts such as feeding, mating and defending itself.
  • Due to the alchemical processes, knowledgeable dark siders can use the parasites to take limited control of the higher brain functions turning them into puppets.
  • The process does not require the host to be fully alive. Deceased hosts can also be controlled in this way, but the control is short lived on this case as the parasites do nothing to prevent decay of the host - maximum of 1-2 weeks depending on conditions.
  • As the parasitic effect is not natural to to species, the parasite has no way of replicating inside the host and new parasites must be added to sustain the infection as they die out. Only ticks without hosts may reproduce.
• Host susceptibility:
  • light side force users, immune to parasite
  • Dark side force users - can be infected but mind control much harder to establish
  • All (including non force users) - immune system will attack the ticks but they are large and resistant parasites that will only be fought off in rare cases by species with a particularly strong immune response.
• Infection cycle: (all times based on post-ingestion by a creature of middling immune response)
  • 1-3 days - bowel discomfort, diarrohea, miniscule spots of blood in stool.
  • 2-6 days - nausea, muscle fatigue, itching skin
  • 5-9 days - memory loss, tingling extremities, loss of finer muscle control
  • 8-14 days - slurred speech, ataxia, involuntary muscle movements, blurred vision, susceptibility to suggestion.
  • 12-21 days - higher functions break down, impulsive behaviour, 7.5% fatality rate from parasite
  • 17-21 days - host becomes what can only be described as a zombie, responding to animalistic impulses and susceptibility to outside control.
• Races: n/a
• Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
  • Not force sensitive but very force responsive allowing darksiders to control them.

Strengths:

• Small and easily hidden - growing inside berries, potentially hundreds of them could be ingested without the hosts knowledge
• Flexible parasite - the parasite is compatible with most oxygen breathing species
• Hard to remove - Once established the parasite is difficult to remove, even if killed by an immune response or drugs, the physical ticks require surgical removal, this can be done either with full open brain surgery or via keyhole.
• Low level of control of large numbers - at its base level of control the trained user can give the host simple instructions such as the following (but not exhaustive). As long as the infection remains the host will obey without question and to the best of its ability until otherwise commanded. This allows creation of mind controlled armies.
  • Attack this creature
  • Obey this commander
  • Flee
  • Kill

Weaknesses:

• Lightside phobic - The darkside nature of these creatures makes them fear the light, they cannot infect light side force users and individual infections can be supressed using the light side of the force. The parasite themselves would have to be removed to prevent reactivation though.
• Hard to spread - the infection is not a natural evolution so has not evolved advantages such as airborne or contact transmission. Infections can only be spread by ingesting the infected cranberries, which themselves need to be deliberately infected with the eggs or large.
• Force negation - in an area of force negation, the mind control effect will disappear and the ticks will simply cause their hosts to behave like animals, if this is in a hostile environment, fight or flight will kick in depending on the situation.
• Very taxing on controller for specific fine control - the controlling dark sider can choose to specifically control one or sometimes two individuals. This requires the darksider to temporarily transfer some of their consciousness into the host, allowing them to control and perceive through the host. This is extremely taxing on the darksider and gives them very greatly reduced perception around their own body.

CULTURE

• Diet: blood, soft tissue
• Communication:
  • Communicate to others of their species via very basic scent signals
  • Can be controlled, but not communicated with by specifically trained dark force users.
• Technology level: none
• Religion/Beliefs: none
• General behavior:
  • Will follow natural impulsive behaviours to carry out their life cycle. Hatch, burrow, eat, potentially breed.
  • Behaviour modified only by presence of the force. Due to their alchemical nature

HISTORICAL INFORMATION

Aemulor created these parasites from a humble boar-wolf tick, he had researched many species but only these seemed to have the characteristics needed to be modified effectively. Through dark rituals and alchemical reactions, alongside some genetic manipulation, he was able to turn them into the dark creatures they are now. Once they get inside a creatures, they burrow to the brain and begin to take over, turning the creature into a zombie like state that is susceptible to mind control by a correctly trained dark sider.

The change is slow, and the ticks are difficult to administer other than via ingestion of the incubating cranberries. This means they have almost no short term tactical usage and are best suited to providing mind controlled slaves to their owner.

The change in behaviour is also extremely obvious once it sets in, without force control, the speech is slow and slurred, reflexes dull and basic processes like the drooling reflex are not controlled properly, the infected creature will eat, fight and breed, like a primal animal. Force control can improve the symptoms but the behaviour is still fairly obviously abnormal. Nobody could ever use these to secretly over throw a government, although Aemulor is working on refining his creations.

 

[The Mongrel]

Under Review Aemulor the Hutt

... zombie, zombie, zombie-ie-ie-ie, oh

An interesting sub, kind of a fauna version of the murakami orchid crossed with a droch. I have a few things I'd like you to clarify or expand, and then I'll go ahead and put my stamp on this once those are addressed.

• In the Distinctions section, under Physical Information, you state in the fifth bullet point that "Early symptoms of infection include memory loss and ataxia along with bowl discomfort." I'm assuming you mean bowel. Easy typo to make.

• Average Lifespan says that the parasite survives in a host for a few months (though Distinction makes clear that it can only survive until the host decays in 1 - 2 weeks if the host is dead). What happens after those few months? Since eggs must be laid inside berries, do the parasites in the brain die out after that period, ending the infection? Or can the creatures replicate in the brain? If the creatures are in the brain, how do they get out to lay eggs in the berries, or do only creatures without hosts lay eggs?

• In Historical Information you mention that the change into a zombie puppet is slow, but I don't see a specific timeframe for how long the transformation takes. Could you please provide one, maybe in the relevant section of Distinctions? A range or average works.

• How many of these slaves could a dark side practitioner control at once? Is this something that can build entire armies, or just small groups of followers? How much strain does controlling the slaves put on the darksider (i.e. can the darksider do other things while controlling the slaves, or does it take great concentration?) These are things that would be good additions to the Strengths and Weaknesses section, to make sure they stay balanced.

• As written, these parasites can only be removed surgically. What would that surgery look like, if they live in the brain? What effect would anti-parasitic medications have on the creatures? Might such medications purge the infection, or maybe only while the creatures are in the stomach, before they reach the brain? Currently light-side force users are immune, but for balance's sake it's good to clarify how an NFU or darksider might be able to resist or treat the infection.

I also have two personal nitpicks that I think are worth bringing up but will not require to be changed for approval. Up to you.

• I get the in-joke about the Cranberries song and the infection being through cranberries, but real-life fruit doesn't seem all that Star Wars to me. Perhaps the method of infection could be through an in-universe berry instead? Here's a list.

• Similarly, wolf ticks are real life animals, and it might be nice to find a Star Wars equivalent. There are a variety of tick species in Star Wars you could use. Here's a list.

If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me here or via PM!

 

[Aemulor the Hutt]

Hey The Mongrel thank you for looking at this and your notes.

In the Distinctions section, under Physical Information, you state in the fifth bullet point that "Early symptoms of infection include memory loss and ataxia along with bowl discomfort." I'm assuming you mean bowel. Easy typo to make.

Oops, fixed that

Average Lifespan says that the parasite survives in a host for a few months (though Distinction makes clear that it can only survive until the host decays in 1 - 2 weeks if the host is dead). What happens after those few months? Since eggs must be laid inside berries, do the parasites in the brain die out after that period, ending the infection? Or can the creatures replicate in the brain? If the creatures are in the brain, how do they get out to lay eggs in the berries, or do only creatures without hosts lay eggs?

I have added another bullet to distinction to address this

In Historical Information you mention that the change into a zombie puppet is slow, but I don't see a specific timeframe for how long the transformation takes. Could you please provide one, maybe in the relevant section of Distinctions? A range or average works.

I wasn't sure where to put this so I have added a new section to the template describing the progression of the infection in an average creature.

How many of these slaves could a dark side practitioner control at once? Is this something that can build entire armies, or just small groups of followers? How much strain does controlling the slaves put on the darksider (i.e. can the darksider do other things while controlling the slaves, or does it take great concentration?) These are things that would be good additions to the Strengths and Weaknesses section, to make sure they stay balanced.

I have added to the strengths an idea that as simple mind controlled Drones you could control thousands on a "follow this order until you die" basis

I have put in weaknesses that fine control is very taxing and that it requires the focus of the force user.

As written, these parasites can only be removed surgically. What would that surgery look like, if they live in the brain? What effect would anti-parasitic medications have on the creatures? Might such medications purge the infection, or maybe only while the creatures are in the stomach, before they reach the brain? Currently light-side force users are immune, but for balance's sake it's good to clarify how an NFU or darksider might be able to resist or treat the infection.

So for this I have expanded on the surgical removal a little, mentioning killing them with drugs and also option for keyhole surgery

I have also added a section for host susceptibility based on their FU status. I have left plenty of options for someone to say they don't get infected as my intention is not for these things to be used on PCs or powerful individuals. But I know once they are out there another writer could try it.

I also have two personal nitpicks that I think are worth bringing up but will not require to be changed for approval. Up to you.

So with these I have decided to keep cranberries because that is a big part of the fun of it for me. And I have looked and cranberry sprite is an approved tech so cranberries do exist in Chaos Canon.

Regards the Wolf, I have met you halfway here and found a chaos subbed species known as the boar-wolf to be the provider of said parasite.

Again, thank you for your notes and I hope these changes are acceptable.

 

[The Mongrel]

Aemulor the Hutt Nice job expanding on this! I particularly like the detail you put into the Infection Cycle section. The length of the cycle means I'm not at all worried about this being abused against PCs, so that was a good balancing factor to add. You've addressed everything I brought up pretty nicely, I'd say. My one word of caution is this: per the Codex rules, "Only a Major Faction has the resources necessary to role-play having a large fleet, army, etc." Have fun with your zombies, but don't go too overboard with the size of the horde.

Approved pending secondary John Locke Srina Talon

 

[Allyson Locke]

Will never look at Cranberries the same now - I knew they were a suspicious berry.

Approved.