Bees! Oh God The Bees! Make The Stinging Stop!

[Soterion]

So, as some of you are vaguely aware, I had a thread on the Banterside asking for help in devising wicker armor for my fictional bee-people. I thought I'd post some sketches over here on Craftside. So here's the first one, of a Azzuzzazi soldier--specifically, a grenadier. The armor is supposed to look like a combination of a cuirassier's and a Mongol's. Note the bee-sting bayonet on the musket. The helmet has a wicker and steelwork visor to protect the face. Normally the grenadier would have a light shield strapped to her chest, which would be used during battle, but kept out of the way during flight.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img001-1.jpg

[Soterion]

Here's a sketch of a masked temple dancer from the city of Ctenople, portraying the Ctenopolitan folk-hero Byzzt. According to myth, Byzzt was a warrior and trickster who founded Ctenople three thousand years ago, after defeating the Seven Wise Daemons of Cten in a series of riddle contests and feats of strength. As a result, she is usually shown with the Seven Civilized Gifts, each of which she won from a different Daemon (the gifts are wax, iron, fire, silk, dance, weaving, and honey).

Supposedly, the last, mightiest, and wisest of the Daemons cursed her, saying she would never be queen of the new city she had founded. Byzzt then laughed in his face, and said she would rather rule over queens than be a queen herself, and seduced the daughter of the final Daemon away to be the first queen of Ctenople. Ctenopolitan tradition therefore states that Byzzt was the first Seragliatrix of Ctenople.

It's questionable if she ever really existed, but she has become an enduring and classic myth, not just to Ctenopolitans, but to all Azzuzzazi.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img002-1.jpg

[Skaroq]

Bees. My God.
-Linkara

[Ninjamuffin]

Bees. My God.


-Abraham Lincoln
Also, This could probably fit comfortably in the general art thread.

[Soterion]

Here's a picture I did of an Azzuzzazi Grub. Grubs don't have wings, but they do have hella big spurs, for defense. They wear natural cloth nappies.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img008-1.jpg

[Weimann]

Awww, he's adorable <3

[Soterion]

This is a picture of an Azzuzzazi Drone, who are sort of Courtiers/Courtesans/Bureaucrats, and the ones who actually run the cities.

By the way, feet? Really hard to draw from the back.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img011.jpg

[Kurien]

The first thing I thought when I saw the drone is -- aren't drones male? :smallconfused:

Anyway, I like your apiarian art. It makes me want to learn more about the Azzuzzazi. Their outer surface does not appear segmented like an arthropod's exoskeleton. It appears to be closer to human skin. Are the black markings natural, tattoos, or simply topical paint?

Can they fly with those wings? I assume they can't, as there is no obvious muscles to beat the wings. Something of human size or 45-60kg, would need huge muscles like a bird's. Also, the wings do not look stiff enough.

How do they produce honey? Are they bee keepers?

How do they reproduce? Do they give birth to one baby at a time, like humans, or lay multiple eggs at a time?

There's a thread in this forum dealing with a Conworlding project. Would you be interested in suggesting your fictional bee people?

[Soterion]

Questions, yay! Here are some answers!


The first thing I thought when I saw the drone is -- aren't drones male? :smallconfused:

Bee drones are male, yes. Azzuzzazi drones, on the other hand, are female. There is only one male in any Azzuzzazi colony -- the king. Despite his name, he wields no power; his only function is mating. Power is, in most cases, in the hands of the drones, who run the colony on a day-to-day basis. Some exceptions exist, particularly in the northern reaches of Sfekod, where military juntas ruled over by soldiers exist.

The actual ruler of most colonies is the Seragliatrix (or similar title) who is the chief drone in the Queen's entourage, and controls access to the Queen. (Compare the human chamberlain, or steward.) Drones' primary function is to tend to the Queen and to the princesses (see Reproduction, below); they are infertile themselves, but like the eunuchs of imperial China, power has devolved into their hands. Decisions are made via a byzantine process of Machiavellian maneuvering on the part of the drones; their chief weapon has traditionally been the princesses they control. If a princess becomes a favorite of the king, that can result in advancement for said princess's chief drone.

Drones tend to look down on royal Azzuzzazi (king, queen, princesses) due to the fact that drones consider them to be "slaves to their hormones." Because the drones don't have to worry about mating, they can focus on the acquisition of power and the improvement of the colony.


Anyway, I like your apiarian art. It makes me want to learn more about the Azzuzzazi. Their outer surface does not appear segmented like an arthropod's exoskeleton. It appears to be closer to human skin. Are the black markings natural, tattoos, or simply topical paint?

Thanks for liking my art, I appreciate it.

The black markings are natural. However, certain Azzuzzazi cultures are in the habit of body painting; these markings are invisible to humans, because they are painted with paint or ink that is only visible in the ultraviolet range.


Can they fly with those wings? I assume they can't, as there is no obvious muscles to beat the wings. Something of human size or 45-60kg, would need huge muscles like a bird's. Also, the wings do not look stiff enough.

Yes, the Azzuzzazi can fly. They're native to 83 Leonis Ae, the fifth planet orbiting the orange subgiant star 83 Leonis A. Ae is smaller and colder than Earth, as a result, it has lower gravity and a thicker atmosphere. The atmosphere of Ae contains more argon than Earth as well. All this means that the wings of the Azzuzzazi produce more lift than they would on Earth.


How do they produce honey? Are they bee keepers?

The Azzuzzazi live in a symbiotic relationship with the Thithix, the other intelligent species on 83 Leonis Ae. The Thithix are intelligent, hermaphroditic ambulatory plants. When a Thithya comes into bloom, s/he produces fragrances that attract Azzuzzazi foragers. The foragers extract the nectar from the Thithya, at the same time taking away pollen from the Thithya's stamen. Traveling to a second Thithya, they extract hir nectar, leaving behind the pollen of the first Thithya. The forager, now full of nectar, heads back to the colony, all the while digesting the nectar in her pseudostomach, an organ linking the digestive tract to the forager's non-functioning reproductive system. Upon arrival back at the colony, she meets with a Azzuzzazi processor, and begins extruding the half-treated nectar. The processor eats the nectar, and completes the transformation into honey. When the processor is finished, the resulting high-energy honey is traditionally stored in large cisterns capped with wax, although more modern colonies are using wooden barrels.


How do they reproduce? Do they give birth to one baby at a time, like humans, or lay multiple eggs at a time?

Azzuzzazi could be considered eusocial monotremes. Only the princesses, king, and queen are capable of reproduction. The queen is distinct in that she and she alone produces royal jelly, which is necessary to put the princesses into estrus. Any Azzuzzazi female can become a princess, if fed royal jelly, which induces ovulation and estrus. Otherwise they are sterile. Mating between the king and a princess results in the production of eggs. The princess lays the eggs after 19 days of gestation, after which they are cared for in large nursery chambers by nurses, specialized workers who produce enzymes in their saliva that nourishes the eggs until they hatch, six months after laying. Eggs are about the size of grapefruit when laid, but increase in size until they are about the size of a watermelon before hatching.

Mating between a king and a queen produces either a new king or a new queen. The queen can hold the king's gametes inside herself for years, until it is necessary to produce a new queen or king. However, that only occurs under certain circumstances, and in most cases, the king produces a pheromone that suppresses the production of new royal Azzuzzazi.


There's a thread in this forum dealing with a Conworlding project. Would you be interested in suggesting your fictional bee people?

I'm not sure they would fit in with the Conworld itP project, but thanks for suggesting it!

Hope this answers some of your questions.

[Player]

Intresting race, altough not very thought out anatomy wise still very good.

[Kurien]

Even more questions!

Describe the entire caste system of the Azzuzzazi?

What is the life expectancy of each of the various castes?

So are the Azzuzzazi and the Thithix the dominant species on the planet of 83 Leonis Ae?

Is honey their only source of food, or do they use agriculture and livestock farming? If honey is their only source of food, why would they have teeth and a moving jaw like humans?

I assume, based on the law of trophic levels, that there are more Thithi than Azzuzzazi. There couldn't possibly be an equal number of both species, or even a greater number of Azzuzzazi, as the Thithix would not be able to produce enough nectar to feed them all.

How do they extract nectar from a Thithix? Do they have some kind of proboscis like a real bee? Handmade tools (like a narrow tube) to suck up the liquid?

What does a Thithya look like? I imagine a big, walking flower? Or akin to a shambling mound?

Let me get this honey making process straight:

An Azzuzzazi forager finds a blooming Thithya, extracts and ingests the nectar and collects some Thithix gametes. At the next Thithya she finds she does the same, but also depositing some gametes on the second Thithya's stamen.


...digesting the nectar in her pseudostomach, an organ linking the digestive tract to the forager's non-functioning reproductive system.

So the nectar of two Thithix is enough to fully fill a forager's pseudo-stomach. The nectar begins to be digested. The pseudostomach organ is connected to the forager's nonfunctioning reproductive system, and as such it is excreted from the Azzuzzazi anatomical equivalent of the vagina?. :smallconfused: :smallannoyed: :smalltongue:

The forager returns to the colony and meets an Azzuzazi processor, a bee person with the right digestive system to fully digest the nectar. The forager excretes the partly digested nectar from her pseudovagina, which the processor then ingests.

The nectar is stored in the processor for awhile, and the fresh honey is then excreted and stored, traditionally in large cisterns capped with wax. How do they make wax?

[hr]
And about reproduction:
So the princesses are the ones that produce the majority of the members of a colony? And the Queen only produces more Queens and Kings?
Is there only one King in a colony?
Is the king allowed to mate with princesses that he sired?


Azzuzzazi could be considered eusocial monotremes.

So the Azzuzzazi produce milk like a mammal? What use would an infertile Drone or other non reproductive beeperson have for such obvious secondary sexual characteristics? (the breasts and wide pelvis)

How does a colony start, anyway? I imagine a Queen, King, some princesses and a small host of workers break off from an existing colony?

Do Azzuzzazi construct buildings, or do they sleep outside? What would they make their buildings out of? (Paper and wax?) What is their architecture like? Hive shaped dome structures?

Is those things on their heels supposed to be stingers (You called the ones on the baby spurs.)? The stinger bayonet on the your first picture seems different from their spurs. How do they walk without it sticking in the ground?

[Soterion]

Even more questions!

Describe the entire caste system of the Azzuzzazi?

You know what's always awesome? Flowcharts!

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/lifecycle.png

Grubs can't walk or talk. Nymphs can do both, but lack wings. Imagines (singular: imago) are "adult" Azzuzzazi, and are assigned to various tasks. "Worker" originally meant just foragers and processors. Now it has expanded to include artisans, scholars, and artists. Soldiers are picked for their aggression and coolness under pressure. Drones are typically selected for vivaciousness, intelligence, and beauty. Nurses are selected for their "maternal" instincts.

At the top is the Seragliatrix, who oversees all the drones. She is the chief handmaiden and drone to the Queen, thus controlling access to royal jelly. Below her are the various chief drones of the princesses, who jockey for position and preference by sucking up to the Seragliatrix and getting their princess in as the favorite of the King.

Below them are the retired drones, who serve as regional magistrates, judges, overseers, and various bureaucratic roles.

Existing in a separate power structure are the soldiers, who have their own ranks, up to something akin to Captain of the Royal Guard, who answers to the Seragliatrix.

In modern times, the workers have begun forming their own power structures, called by the drones the "Shadow Theatre": secret societies that are a mix of guild, criminal syndicate, cult, and terrorist group.

Artists' circles and scientific societies are becoming more prevalent with the advent of the scientific revolution sweeping the cities around the Central Sea (working name).


What is the life expectancy of each of the various castes?

Worker: roughly 40 years
Soldier: roughly 20 - 30 years
Drone: roughly 60 years
Princess: roughly 30 years
Queen: 100+ years
King: roughly 100 years


So are the Azzuzzazi and the Thithix the dominant species on the planet of 83 Leonis Ae?

They certainly would like to think so! However, in wild and untamed parts of 83 Leonis Ae (particularly the "new continent" of Hyla) Azzuzzazi and Thithix are still prey to large predators and herbivores.

Of particular note are the Slavers. The Slavers and the Azzuzzazi almost certainly share a common evolutionary ancestor, but that was eons in the past, and since then they have taken strikingly different paths. The Azzuzzazi consider the Slavers to be brutes, large and dangerous, and essentially unintelligent. The Slavers appear to have language, however, as well as a social structure. They also use tools. The Azzuzzazi are perhaps justifiably prejudiced against the Slavers, since one of the favorite activities of the Slavers is catching, killing, and eating Azzuzzazi. Raw.


Is honey their only source of food, or do they use agriculture and livestock farming? If honey is their only source of food, why would they have teeth and a moving jaw like humans?

Azzuzzazi eat only honey. Traditionally, the nectar to produce this has come from Thithix, but in modern times many colonies have begun experimenting with agriculture to grow other (non-sentient) flowers for their nectar. In terms of livestock, the Azzuzzazi do not eat meat. They raise "sheepillars" (for want of a better term), small animals that produce silk for nesting. These animals also have soft hairs that some northern colonies card and spin as wool. Many Azzuzzazi keep "sheepillars" as pets.

Azzuzzazi have teeth and jaws to process wood pulp to make into paper, and to soften and shape wax. Chewing the stem of the jata plant is a popular habit, as it contains a soft, reedy center with alkaloids that are a moderately dissociative hallucinogen.


I assume, based on the law of trophic levels, that there are more Thithi than Azzuzzazi. There couldn't possibly be an equal number of both species, or even a greater number of Azzuzzazi, as the Thithix would not be able to produce enough nectar to feed them all.

How do they extract nectar from a Thithix? Do they have some kind of proboscis like a real bee? Handmade tools (like a narrow tube) to suck up the liquid?

Azzuzzazi have long, "furry" tongues that catch and hold nectar. Think an anteater or a pangolin.


What does a Thithya look like? I imagine a big, walking flower? Or akin to a shambling mound?

I'll post a picture of a Thithix as soon as I draw one.


Let me get this honey making process straight:

An Azzuzzazi forager finds a blooming Thithya, extracts and ingests the nectar and collects some Thithix gametes. At the next Thithya she finds she does the same, but also depositing some gametes on the second Thithya's stamen.



So the nectar of two Thithix is enough to fully fill a forager's pseudo-stomach. The nectar begins to be digested. The pseudostomach organ is connected to the forager's nonfunctioning reproductive system, and as such it is excreted from the Azzuzzazi anatomical equivalent of the vagina?. :smallconfused: :smallannoyed: :smalltongue:

The forager returns to the colony and meets an Azzuzazi processor, a bee person with the right digestive system to fully digest the nectar. The forager excretes the partly digested nectar from her pseudovagina, which the processor then ingests.

The nectar is stored in the processor for awhile, and the fresh honey is then excreted and stored, traditionally in large cisterns capped with wax. How do they make wax?

Azzuzzazi make wax from glands on their stomachs. Azzuzzazi only sleep in a supine position because they produce wax as they sleep. A thin layer of wax is produced, and hardens on their stomachs. They scrape it off and give it to the cistern keepers and artisans, who chew it to soften it and then use it for a variety of purposes around the colony.


And about reproduction:
So the princesses are the ones that produce the majority of the members of a colony? And the Queen only produces more Queens and Kings?

Yes, the princesses produce the majority of the eggs for the colony. Queens produce only Queens and Kings.


Is there only one King in a colony?

Yes, there is one King and one Queen per colony.


Is the king allowed to mate with princesses that he sired?

Yes. Just as with real bees, the Azzuzzazi are highly endogamous. Real life queen bees mate with male drones whom they produce via haplodiploidy, which means that the male drones don't even have a father! Real-life drones have grandfathers and grandsons, but no fathers or sons. As a result, the queen mates with her own offspring. The Azzuzzazi are similar, except with the genders inverted.


So the Azzuzzazi produce milk like a mammal? What use would an infertile Drone or other non reproductive beeperson have for such obvious secondary sexual characteristics? (the breasts and wide pelvis)

Azzuzzazi have breasts for the same reason that men have nipples. They're vestigial secondary sexual characteristics that in the right circumstances are put into use for their original intended purpose. Also, an Azzuzzazi imago is not necessarily infertile. Only in the absence of royal jelly is she infertile, and therefore her body is anatomically prepared for the opportunity to reproduce, in much the same way that a human woman has breasts even if she has no infant to nurse.


How does a colony start, anyway? I imagine a Queen, King, some princesses and a small host of workers break off from an existing colony?

Azzuzzazi, particularly those who are reproductive, are extremely sensitive to pheromones. When conditions in a colony are right, i.e. during periods of high stress, the queen's body chemistry changes, and she uses the stored male gametes in her body to produce either a new Queen, a new King, or both. This occurs when the Queen or King becomes sick, when the colony becomes severely overcrowded, or when the colony is depleted by plague, famine, or war.

When the colony is overcrowded, the new Queen and King will take part of the population and form a new colony some distance away. If there are spare Thithix, they will take the Thithix with them; if not, they may need to wage war on any Azzuzzazi who live in the new region, and take their Thithix. This has been the traditional reason for war among the Azzuzzazi.


Do Azzuzzazi construct buildings, or do they sleep outside? What would they make their buildings out of? (Paper and wax?) What is their architecture like? Hive shaped dome structures?

We actually had a long discussion about this on the other thread! Azzuzzazzi do indeed construct buildings. These are made of stone or bricks, mortar, wood in forest locations, paper, wax, and a variety of other substances. In the cold rainforests of Sfekod, they build fortresses that we would recognize as being "hives": amorphous agglomerations of many buildings merged into one, high off the ground, suspended between many trees, made from wood, paper, and rope. Other Azzuzzazi build stone fortresses with what we would call "onion domes" designed to give maximum defense against aerial attackers.

With the development of gunpowder, many traditional designs for citadels and fortresses are becoming obsolete. Indeed, in the cities of Melliferox and Epichar, most of the population no longer lives in the "colony" proper, instead living in free-standing buildings constructed around the central fortress. This is due in part to the population explosion of those two cities as well as the decline in effectiveness in traditional fortifications.

Living inside a Azzuzzazi fortress is crowded, noisy, and hot. It's a lot like living inside a didgeridoo.


Is those things on their heels supposed to be stingers (You called the ones on the baby spurs.)? The stinger bayonet on the your first picture seems different from their spurs. How do they walk without it sticking in the ground?

Yes, they are stingers. The bayonet would be made from metal. The spurs are raised slightly from the base of the heel, as a result they don't tread on them. Most Azzuzzazi martial arts are based around the spurs, with most of the emphasis on kicking and leg sweeps, designed to strike the opponent somewhere vital with the spurs.

Hope this answers some of your questions! Up next: A Mappe of the World.

[Soterion]

Here's a map (or "mappe") of 83 Leonis Ae. The "new continent" of Hyla (Bananyin to the natives) is not shown.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/map-1.png

The two shown continents are Melitta and Megach, with the smaller subcontinent of Sfekod also shown. Sfekod is separated from the rest of Melitta by the Gods' Honeycombs, an extremely large mountain range. Megach is mostly cold jungle, ranging to temperate around the Honeywine Sea. The countries bordering the Honeywine Sea are quite warm, only getting snow during the winter, rather than year-round like regions further north or south. Hyla lies to the east, across the Meliponese Sea.

A larger image can be found at http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/map.png

[Soterion]

So here's a portrait I drew. It's Grenadier-Excubitor Lenla Demagazzu, a soldier from the city of Melliferox. She lost her right eye during the war against Osmi.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img017-1.jpg

[Ninjamuffin]

I don't wanna be mean, but I fear I must ask;
What's the point of multifaceted eyes when they are so small and set into the face?

[Soterion]

Ninjamuffin: Because it looks cool.



From Across Zazmukar with Parasol and Ladies’ Maid by Miss Eliza Abbercroft, Gentlewoman Adventuress, Being an Account of Her Adventures and Observations on the Strange World of Zazmukar and Its Inhabitants the Azzuzzazi and Thithicks [sic], After Her Transportation There Via Magic Carpet, London, 1889


Today I was informed by Mme. Upaxa Q., who as I have explained before was our guide in the great city of Melliferox, that as my understanding of High Ctenolingua was near fluency, I was to be honored with the opportunity to witness the proceedings of the Melliferide law. I accompanied Mme. Upaxa to the local Magisterium Minor, which is the court of law where offenders against the Crown’s law are tried. I was at first very reluctant to go, seeing as a woman of good breeding should not consort with the criminal classes, but Captain Grace convinced me that it would make an excellent anecdote for my memoirs.

With this in mind, I traveled early in the morning with Mme. Upaxa to the Magisterium Minor to see what miscreants the Nusma had apprehended the previous night. The Nusma are the city’s police, and a very rough sort they are. Every woman among them has a face full of scars--not the elegant scars acquired by the military officers through dueling, but rather the result of many a night chasing ruffians through the city’s slums. I am told that most are failed soldiers, and it shows. They lack all class. However, even here the Azzuzzazi love of etiquette and manner shows, as they were unfailingly polite, if a bit brusque, towards me as I observed them during their duties. The Magisterium functions also as a kind of gaol, and the night’s sweepings were present in the cells for my inspection. The Azzuzzazi are so law-abiding, that they regard deliberate criminals with a special horror. Therefore, most of those arrested were charged merely with being disorderly while tired, or perhaps loitering in a public place. Each woman arrested was brought to the scribe, who carefully took down her name, occupation, where in the city she lived, and what crime she was charged with. Most were, from what I learned from the Nusma, inconsequential. One, however, garnered the immediate interest of all Nusma in the Magisterium.

At this point, please forgive me, I must lapse into some...indelicacies. After each woman was charged before the scribe, the Nusma on guard required her to disrobe. This, I was told, was to ensure that she had not secreted any weapons upon her person. One young woman, who had been charged with burglary, disrobed and was submitted to inspection. The Nusma inspecting her, a young woman of similar age, examined her carefully. Upon reaching the prisoner’s...posterior, the Nusma immediately called out, “Eka, eka, gefori--Here, here, look at this!” The Nusma pointed to the offending portion of the prisoner’s body, where, high on the inside of her left b*tt*ck, she had tattooed the stylized design of a moon.

This, the Nusma accused, was a sure sign that the prisoner was a member of the Shadow Theatre. The Shadow Theatre is a thieves’ guild and labor union in the city, and the sworn enemies of the Nusma. They steal from hard-working craftsmen, and their demagogues rouse the workers to conduct strikes, which the Nusma and excubitors must then break.

The prisoner protested that the design was innocent in intent, but to no avail. The Nusma were very angry, but held back from any violence towards this prisoner, for the magistrate had not yet arrived.

Next: The Magistrate Arrives

[Soterion]

Here's a picture of a Slaver, traditional enemies and predators of the Azzuzzazi. They live in the northern regions.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img030-1.jpg

[Soterion]

So this is a picture of a Thithya, the race of intelligent plants the Azzuzzazi exist in symbiosis with.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/thithya-1.jpg

The Thithix are mobile, and as a result no longer have roots. Instead, they practice geophagy to acquire the nutrients they need. Because of this, the Azzuzzazi word for them is mukma, which literally means "Those people who eat dirt."

They have five eyes, the middle one of which is an extremely simple, light-sensitive lidless photoreceptor. This helps the Thithix regulate their activity in time with the sun. Due to 83 Leonis A's gradually diminishing solar output, the Thithix are becoming increasingly prone to what the Azzuzzazi refer to as "mukma drunkenness," a malady which manifests as confusion and lethargy due to disorientingly low levels of light.

This is an image of a Thithya jaw. Note that they lack canines, since they don't eat meat. They do however have twenty hypsodont molars (humans have twelve quadrate molars), which they use to grind the earth they eat.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/thithya-jaw-1.jpg

Of course, this jaw and teeth aren't made from bone. Bones are calcium, while the support structure of the Thithix is more diffuse and made from cellulose and lignin.

[Soterion]

Another Thithya.

http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/img033-1.jpg

Thithix practice morphological crypsis; their external appearance adapts over several generations to mimic their surroundings, in order to avoid the large predatory herbivores that prey on them. This Thithya comes from the cold jungles of western Megach, as such, hir appearance has a predominance towards "ferns" and other jungle flora.

[Soterion]

From Across Zazmukar with Parasol and Ladies’ Maid by Miss Eliza Abbercroft, Gentlewoman Adventuress, Being an Account of Her Adventures and Observations on the Strange World of Zazmukar and Its Inhabitants the Azzuzzazi and Thithicks [sic], After Her Transportation There Via Magic Carpet, London, 1889


We arrived in the city of Epichar after an uneventful voyage across the Honeywine Sea. Epichar is perhaps the Paris to Melliferox's London, the chief rival and continual bete noir. The weather is humid and warm, for Zazmukar. Epichar resembles no city on Earth more than Bombay, for both have the same lush tropical vegetation, and frequent rain.

The Epicharos were polite, if somewhat cold, to us. Both Melliferox and Epichar have colonies on the new continent of Hyla, and word had arrived via heliograph that there had been some fighting amongst the settlers there. However, neither city wishes to make too much of this, for Melliferox has been busy with her war against Osmi, and Epichar is consumed with destroying the pirates that lurk off the coast of Megach, which is the southern continent. These pirates cause great loss of life and goods, and so the Epicharos are attempting to pacify them. Even the Melliferides of our party spoke well of this effort; they regard the pirates as a special abomination, since the pirates lack kings and queens, but rather rule themselves in an almost Yankee democracy.

Two days after our arrival, the city became very excited and agitated. We asked our guide, Mme. Tchon, what was happening, and she informed us that the garrison of "Aside", the small village across from Epichar on the mainland, had been out in the jungles and had captured a tiger. This tiger was said to be a man-eater, and greatly feared. The beast was being held in the Maharanee's menagerie. We submitted a request that, as foreign visitors, we be given the opportunity to see this monster for ourselves. Mme. Tchon warned us not to be hopeful, as many in this great city would also like to see the tiger, but to our surprise, three days later a message arrived inviting us to the menagerie inside the mighty Citadel.

The menagerie is built in the new style, with many verandas and pleasant palms to give shade. We found the tiger caged and moated. Never before in my life have I seen such a brute.

It was a tiger in name only; indeed, it put me in mind of nothing so much as a great stoat or some other polecat, very long and lithe of body. It was as big as a man, perhaps bigger, and very powerfully muscled. Like all the beasts of this world, it possessed six limbs. However, the tiger was most striking in that its forelimbs resembled those of a crab, or a lobster, each ending in a great plated claw, which it snapped at us. The front portion of the torso, too, was plated, just like a crab.

We are told by our hosts that these tigers will rip a woman to shreds with their claws. This one, in particular, had already killed and devoured several women on the mainland.

The tiger had a very long, bushy tail, so much so that my companion Capt. Grace said the beast reminded him of a great, predatory squirrel. The head had the same segmented eyes as all the other creatures of this world, and also four long tusks, two each from the top and bottom jaws. They do not use them for eating; rather, the gentlemen tigers spar with them for the affections of the lady tiger. Because of the size of the lower tusks on this specimen (longer than my hand!) the animal keeper informed us that it was a tom tiger, and not a tigress.

Also, the beast has around his nose eight small "feelers" which function much as a cat's whiskers do, save that these also contribute to its sense of smell. Because of this, Capt. Grace suggested we call it the "Spider-Nosed" Tiger, to distinguish it from the garden variety sort. He also did a rather striking watercolor of the tiger, which is reproduced below. In all, a most exciting day.


http://i948.photobucket.com/albums/ad326/finn_de_siecle/tigercopy.jpg
Spider-nosed Tiger (Arachnorhyncus panthera), Cpt. William Grace, Watercolor, 1884