Pirate Prince
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
- Intent: To flesh out Lao-mon and give myself nightmares.
- Image Credit: Michael Jaecks
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Inspiration derived from The Blob as well as the blob creatures from SW.
- Name: Urartu
- Designation: Non-sentient
- Origins: Lao-mon
- Average Lifespan: 7 standard years
- Estimated Population: Rare
- Description: When first formed, the Urartu resembles an amorphous blob of a clear jelly-like substance. It changes color based on what it consumes, gradually becoming more cloudy until it is virtually opaque. Most animals on Lao-mon have black blood, therefore the most common visual conception of a mature and well-fed Urartu is black or dark in color.
- Breathes: Type I
- Average Height of Adults: Varies; usually around 1.8 meters (around 6 feet)
- Average Length of Adults: N/A
- Skin color: N/A
- Hair color: N/A
- Distinctions: While the Urartu have five different sexes, this is usually not physically apparent in mature specimens, making it virtually impossible to tell them apart with the naked eye. Only cutting them open would reveal the distinctions. In the case of immature Urartu that have not fed yet (and are therefore transparent), their sexual organs are not developed enough to be visible. Basically, all Urartu tend to look like blobs to other species.
- Races: N/A
- Force Sensitivity: Non-Sensitive
- The Blob: The Urartu absorbs and consumes all living things in its path. Its shapeless form can seep through cracks and narrow spaces with ease. Attracted to heat, it engulfs and smothers its victims within its mass before rapidly digesting them. It does not feel pain and doesn't react to stimuli, meaning that it won't be slowed down even if wounded.
- Flammable: Something about the Urartu's biology makes it highly flammable. Set it on fire and watch it burn.
- Salt: Pouring salt on it will cause it to shrivel up and die.
- Cold: The Urartu doesn't like low temperatures, which slow it down. Freezing it will cause its body to crystalize, killing it.
- Dumber Than a Bag of Bricks: The Urartu is infamous for being very easy to outsmart. Blindly seeking to consume, it will follow people into freezers, salty oceans, and even jump into flames or onto stoves simply because it is attracted to heat. They also have no nervous system and therefore don't receive a painful warning when they are injured by something, so... they just keep doing whatever they're doing, even if it eventually kills or incapacitates them.
- Reproduction... ?: Well, when an Urartu loves another Urartu very much... oh, you're surprised that they even have sexes? So are we. In fact, the Urartu have several, and only some of them are compatible with each other. This complicates procreation in the wild, making it even more difficult for them to meet a viable mate than it is getting someone to go on a date with you.
- Diet: Omnivore; the Urartu will consume anything living, including both plants and animals... with some limitations and preferences. They won't eat rocks/dirt or metals, rarely consume wood, and tend to prefer meat to plants because meat is high in protein.
- Communication: They do seem to have a passive form of telepathy which functions in the same vague, suggestive manner as pheromones, communicating emotions rather than ideas.
- Technology level: I saw one pick up a fork and throw it one time. N/A, they're blobs.
- Religion/Beliefs: N/A
- General behavior:
- Reproduction: As previously mentioned, the Urartu have five different sexes. I'm not going to go into detail on how each one works, because this is a PG-13 website, but they have to scour the land for a mate with compatible parts before they can mate. Scientists are at a loss to understand how exactly they're even able to tell if a potential mate is compatible, but they think it has something to do with telepathy. Or maybe they just attempt to mate with every other Urartu they come across and give up if it doesn't work. That's called mechanical isolation. Only two Urartu of compatible sexes are necessary in order to reproduce viable offspring, and in a rare instance of nature having mercy on us, one Urartu coupling can only produce one offspring at a time. The gestation period varies based on which sex is doing the gestating, ranging from a few hours to an entire month. As you may have guessed, one of the five sexes is cross-compatible, although the other four don't seem to like the fifth one all that much, even though it can reproduce with anybody. In fact, the other four are as likely to eat a member of the fifth sex as they are to mate with it. Scientists don't know why.
- Childhood: Immature Urartu are transparent or whitish; their gelatinous appearance is often mistaken for star jelly, with fatal results. They are voracious eaters with few boundaries on what they will consume, save their small size. This can make them more dangerous than their adult counterparts, because they are harder to spot. Young Urartu have a high mortality rate due to being murdered by Shi'ido armed with flamethrowers, CryoBan weaponry, ice cubes and salt shakers.
- Adulthood: Urartu are considered fully mature at around one year old. How they managed to make it this far is one of life's great mysteries. While most stick to the jungles and limit their diet to other wildlife, a few are brave/stupid enough to venture into civilized territory. These ones may eat sentients, but once they do, nine and a half times out of ten they forfeit their existence to beings of greater intelligence than themselves. Seven year lifespan? Maybe if you had stayed in the woods, goop.
- Deterioration and Death: Elderly Urartu are exceptionally rare. A few exist in captivity, where they have been observed to spend long periods of time doing absolutely nothing. They eat far less, which causes their bodies to slowly shrink. When one is dying, it avoids consumption altogether, eventually shriveling up and expiring from dehydration. Their remains break down rapidly, evaporating until there is no trace left behind.
A long time ago, during Lao-mon's pre-history, the Urartu was feared and loathed. Ancient Shi'ido mythology held them to be the reincarnated souls of gluttons, hedonists, and other evildoers, now cursed to wander the earth with no meaning to their existence save consumption.
Then, one day, a Shi'ido must have figured out their weaknesses and told all his friends, because everyone suddenly stopped fearing them some time during the bronze age. Oh sure, they still pose a threat to pets and children, but they're hardly considered as fearsome as they once were. That said, if you're an offworlder and don't know how to deal with one... yeah, sorry, you're screwed. Don't worry, they digest meat pretty quickly. It will only hurt for about a minute as your body is rapidly smothered and dissolved by slime.
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