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Description

    Liquidons are a reptile-like species whose somatic cells have special properties. Thanks to the ability to consciously regulate the amount of cholesterol in their lipid bilayer and how tight or loose their membranes get, the flesh of the liquid can become fluid or goo-like in order to take in food, water, and oxygen. Hence why they are called liquidons, after their highly adapted skin.

Lifespan:
    Liquidons normally live up to 100 to 150 years in optimal conditions.

Anatomy:
    An anatomical wonder, liquidons have very few bones. Their skeletal structure is loose like their skin so the liquidon can fit into tight areas. They have no internal organs, besides from a tongue that is used chiefly for smell and tracking. During mating season, a sac at base of the tongue fills with egg cells and the inside of the tongue generates sperm, the leftovers of which die and are expelled out of the body with other dead cells and are generated again during the next mating season. To get rid of waste, liquidons expel it from their mouth as that is the only orifice they have. Organic waste is liquified by their free-floating acidic blood and is vomited up in a tar-like mixture that hardens quickly. Their acidic blood is also used to digest any food that they consume and even bugs that mistakenly fly onto the surface of their skin, and the nutrients are quickly absorbed by cells.
Diet:
    Liquidons chiefly consume bugs, one of their favorites being worms and grubs. Sometimes, liquidons need to eat beans, legumes, or seeds to get more natural cholesterol to keep their flesh fluid and adjustable.
Behavior:
    Highly social, liquidons live in a highly diversified pack. Genes determine which role an individual takes on, and pups are taught from birth how to carry out their duties. Liquidons are identified by their specialized body structures and glowing markings. They are blind, so their skin has evolved to be extra sensitive to the special bacteria-produced light they emit. Receptors in their cells can distinguish between wavelengths of the light and the pattern by the way it hits the skin. These cells also can tell the difference between sunlight and other types of light so they do not mistake other light sources for a fellow liquidon. Different types of liquidons have differing behaviors.
  Scholar genes give the body no special structures, sometimes seen as the ‘vanilla’ gene. Scholars mostly stay home and care for pups, teaching them survival skills. Sometimes, squads of scholars will go out at night to scout out new territory.
  Miners have crystal-like growths on their backs and take on the role of food gathering. Their crystals can be used to attack aggressors, as the miner curls into a ball and rolls into the target. They head out to forage during the evening and night.
  Warriors have venomous spines on their backs they use to fend off aggressors, their job being keeping watch and fighting predators. They take shifts, half staying awake during the day and the other half at night. Whenever an enemy comes, the warrior rolls into a ball much like the miner and rolls their venomous spines into their target. Their spines constantly synthesize more venom for use, and sometimes utilizes venom from the bugs the liquidon eats. These spines can be lost, however, and they don’t grow back.
  Guardians have plate-like growths on their backs that they use to block attacks. They, like the warriors, work to protect the pack. Guardians aren’t good at offense, but their defense is better than any other gene. They work in cohort with warriors to block attacks directed towards them, acting as living shields. Other groups stay behind to protect non-fighting liquidons just in case an attacker sneaks in. They two take sleeping shifts like the warriors.
  Mages are a peculiar gene that hold elemental abilities and apparent magical abilities. Their diamond shaped plates levitate around them and can be repositioned to attack or guard. However, their defense and offense are not stellar so they don’t take part in fighting much. Their duties lie in warding off harsh storms and other environmental hazards. Mages will group up and specialize in redirecting specific hazards: water (floods, heavy rain, ice, etc), earth (mudslides, rockfalls, etc) and fire (wildfires). The plates around their bodies move and redirect their specialized hazards, clearing paths and keeping dens safe.
  Infected genes are not natural to the liquidon genepool, it is caused by a viral infection altering cell function and body structure. Liquidons with this condition form large tumors of glowing markings all over their body, which helps it attract bugs for food but makes it easy for predators to hunt. If they mate with uninfected liquidons, there’s a chance of the offspring having the infection virus. The virus isn’t passed to the mate, however, and nor is it passed through regular contact. The virus originates from a liquidon consuming infected bugs or water during mating season, letting the virus seek out egg and sperm in their bodies to inhabit. Since the altered chromosomes are unnatural, infected liquidons have no set role in a pack. Infected liquidons are sometimes shunned by packs since they attract predators and infect offspring. However, some populations of liquidons welcome the infected in order to attract more bugs and train to lead predators on false trails right into traps organized by warriors and guardians.

Habitat:
  Because their skin is semi-permeable, Liquidons need a moist environment. Dry places will dry out their skin, and places that are too wet will bloat their body to the point their cells could burst. They are drawn to dark and dank caves, and sometimes will dig underground burrows if no cave is to be found. They need high levels of oxygen, too, which thankfully their home planet has.

Mating:
  When mating season comes about in June-August, liquidons will attract each other by turning their heads to the sky and emitting a bugle-like call. Different genes have different frequencies of calls, allowing liquidons to choose which mate they approach based on gene. If a particular gene is too scarce in the pack, liquidons will be more attracted to the scarcer gene so that it is not lost. Liquidons are hermaphrodites, they have both sperm and egg cells. Liquidon partners will lock mouths and use their tongues to puncture each other’s egg sac with their tongues and inject sperm to fertilize. Despite there being hundreds of sperm and eggs, only about 3 to 5 zygotes successfully form inside the sac. The egg sac is swallowed to keep the growing zygotes safe as they grow their protective egg shells and grow bigger for 3 months. Once the eggs are big enough, they are spat into a mud or clay nest fortified by hardened vomit. The nests are made year-round and are added upon each time a liquidon expels its tar-like waste or comes across easily molded clay and mud. Because their vomit contains the portion of glowing bacteria that is dead or dying, their vomit glows slightly to allow them to find their nests through tracking their light signatures. Mates take turns guarding the nest for another 3 months until the pup hatches.
  Some genes are dominant over another, meaning some are more common than others. Alleles determine which genotype and therefore which phenotype it will express. There are three alleles that determine its phenotype: P, p, and K. The infection virus attacks the P or p alleles to for V, an allele not natural to the gene pool.

PP- warrior
Pp- guardian
pp- scholar
Kp- miner
KP- miner
KK- mage
VP- infected
Vp- infected
VK- infected
VV- fatal, offspring will not hatch

Description

    Liquidons are a reptile-like species whose somatic cells have special properties. Thanks to the ability to consciously regulate the amount of cholesterol in their lipid bilayer and how tight or loose their membranes get, the flesh of the liquid can become fluid or goo-like in order to take in food, water, and oxygen. Hence why they are called liquidons, after their highly adapted skin.

Lifespan:
    Liquidons normally live up to 100 to 150 years in optimal conditions.

Anatomy:
    An anatomical wonder, liquidons have very few bones. Their skeletal structure is loose like their skin so the liquidon can fit into tight areas. They have no internal organs, besides from a tongue that is used chiefly for smell and tracking. During mating season, a sac at base of the tongue fills with egg cells and the inside of the tongue generates sperm, the leftovers of which die and are expelled out of the body with other dead cells and are generated again during the next mating season. To get rid of waste, liquidons expel it from their mouth as that is the only orifice they have. Organic waste is liquified by their free-floating acidic blood and is vomited up in a tar-like mixture that hardens quickly. Their acidic blood is also used to digest any food that they consume and even bugs that mistakenly fly onto the surface of their skin, and the nutrients are quickly absorbed by cells.
Diet:
    Liquidons chiefly consume bugs, one of their favorites being worms and grubs. Sometimes, liquidons need to eat beans, legumes, or seeds to get more natural cholesterol to keep their flesh fluid and adjustable.
Behavior:
    Highly social, liquidons live in a highly diversified pack. Genes determine which role an individual takes on, and pups are taught from birth how to carry out their duties. Liquidons are identified by their specialized body structures and glowing markings. They are blind, so their skin has evolved to be extra sensitive to the special bacteria-produced light they emit. Receptors in their cells can distinguish between wavelengths of the light and the pattern by the way it hits the skin. These cells also can tell the difference between sunlight and other types of light so they do not mistake other light sources for a fellow liquidon. Different types of liquidons have differing behaviors.
  Scholar genes give the body no special structures, sometimes seen as the ‘vanilla’ gene. Scholars mostly stay home and care for pups, teaching them survival skills. Sometimes, squads of scholars will go out at night to scout out new territory.
  Miners have crystal-like growths on their backs and take on the role of food gathering. Their crystals can be used to attack aggressors, as the miner curls into a ball and rolls into the target. They head out to forage during the evening and night.
  Warriors have venomous spines on their backs they use to fend off aggressors, their job being keeping watch and fighting predators. They take shifts, half staying awake during the day and the other half at night. Whenever an enemy comes, the warrior rolls into a ball much like the miner and rolls their venomous spines into their target. Their spines constantly synthesize more venom for use, and sometimes utilizes venom from the bugs the liquidon eats. These spines can be lost, however, and they don’t grow back.
  Guardians have plate-like growths on their backs that they use to block attacks. They, like the warriors, work to protect the pack. Guardians aren’t good at offense, but their defense is better than any other gene. They work in cohort with warriors to block attacks directed towards them, acting as living shields. Other groups stay behind to protect non-fighting liquidons just in case an attacker sneaks in. They two take sleeping shifts like the warriors.
  Mages are a peculiar gene that hold elemental abilities and apparent magical abilities. Their diamond shaped plates levitate around them and can be repositioned to attack or guard. However, their defense and offense are not stellar so they don’t take part in fighting much. Their duties lie in warding off harsh storms and other environmental hazards. Mages will group up and specialize in redirecting specific hazards: water (floods, heavy rain, ice, etc), earth (mudslides, rockfalls, etc) and fire (wildfires). The plates around their bodies move and redirect their specialized hazards, clearing paths and keeping dens safe.
  Infected genes are not natural to the liquidon genepool, it is caused by a viral infection altering cell function and body structure. Liquidons with this condition form large tumors of glowing markings all over their body, which helps it attract bugs for food but makes it easy for predators to hunt. If they mate with uninfected liquidons, there’s a chance of the offspring having the infection virus. The virus isn’t passed to the mate, however, and nor is it passed through regular contact. The virus originates from a liquidon consuming infected bugs or water during mating season, letting the virus seek out egg and sperm in their bodies to inhabit. Since the altered chromosomes are unnatural, infected liquidons have no set role in a pack. Infected liquidons are sometimes shunned by packs since they attract predators and infect offspring. However, some populations of liquidons welcome the infected in order to attract more bugs and train to lead predators on false trails right into traps organized by warriors and guardians.

Habitat:
  Because their skin is semi-permeable, Liquidons need a moist environment. Dry places will dry out their skin, and places that are too wet will bloat their body to the point their cells could burst. They are drawn to dark and dank caves, and sometimes will dig underground burrows if no cave is to be found. They need high levels of oxygen, too, which thankfully their home planet has.

Mating:
  When mating season comes about in June-August, liquidons will attract each other by turning their heads to the sky and emitting a bugle-like call. Different genes have different frequencies of calls, allowing liquidons to choose which mate they approach based on gene. If a particular gene is too scarce in the pack, liquidons will be more attracted to the scarcer gene so that it is not lost. Liquidons are hermaphrodites, they have both sperm and egg cells. Liquidon partners will lock mouths and use their tongues to puncture each other’s egg sac with their tongues and inject sperm to fertilize. Despite there being hundreds of sperm and eggs, only about 3 to 5 zygotes successfully form inside the sac. The egg sac is swallowed to keep the growing zygotes safe as they grow their protective egg shells and grow bigger for 3 months. Once the eggs are big enough, they are spat into a mud or clay nest fortified by hardened vomit. The nests are made year-round and are added upon each time a liquidon expels its tar-like waste or comes across easily molded clay and mud. Because their vomit contains the portion of glowing bacteria that is dead or dying, their vomit glows slightly to allow them to find their nests through tracking their light signatures. Mates take turns guarding the nest for another 3 months until the pup hatches.
  Some genes are dominant over another, meaning some are more common than others. Alleles determine which genotype and therefore which phenotype it will express. There are three alleles that determine its phenotype: P, p, and K. The infection virus attacks the P or p alleles to for V, an allele not natural to the gene pool.

PP- warrior
Pp- guardian
pp- scholar
Kp- miner
KP- miner
KK- mage
VP- infected
Vp- infected
VK- infected
VV- fatal, offspring will not hatch