[Empire 7] Oceanic Advances in Science International Symposium

[Aerin]

This is an event for the on-going - always recruiting - world-building game, Empire 7. If interested, please check out our OOC thread here.

Oceanic Advances in Science
International Symposium

Setting information:

The Society for Oceanic Advances in Science runs a non-profit academic journal that accepts high-quality, peer-reviewed research articles from all scientific disciplines. When funding allows, they also host academic conferences where early-career trainees and white-whiskered professors alike can exchange ideas and socialize. This year's symposium is particularly spectacular, as the Conclave of Matriarchs has allocated additional funding to the Society to fund travel grants for attending scientists from all over the globe.

Although not everyone that attends will be a scientist. Conferences like OASIS are also excellent places to showcase your latest discovery, hawk your wares to lab managers, snoop around your enemy's developments, make deals with friendly or rival powers, or just flat-out steal technology. One's motivations for attending need not be purely academic in nature.

A typical OASIS experience may consist of the following:

Successive 20-30 minute talks by fellow scientists are held from morning until early afternoon, with a break for catered lunch. Talks may include photospore-projected slideshows, live demonstrations, or only words. The first talk of the day is the keynote talk, which is longer and delivered by a scientist of high notoriety. After the keynote presentation, OASIS is large enough to have three parallel sessions occurring at once so that attendees can switch between locales to attend the selection of presentations that most interests them.

Poster sessions (see image above) are held in the afternoons after the talks. Presenters are assigned a specific day of the symposium to be physically present at their poster (or your nation's technological equivalent of a poster) to answer any questions, but all posters are displayed and available for browsing during any of the poster sessions.

Evenings include optional workshop sessions (see event 3 below), where attendees can learn the basics of a new field or undergo professional development. Evenings are also a great time to go out for dinner and underwater beer-equivalents to socialize with one's peers. Collaborations and deals are made here!

The venue is top-notch. The Society pulled many strings to reserve the governmental chambers during a period of time where the Grand Conclave is not in session. The main chambers are large auditoriums with cushy seating, while side events take place in the smaller antechambers intended for more personalized diplomacy. Everything is fancifully decorated with carved clusters of luminescent crystal in brilliant colors.

Breakfast and lunch were covered by the registration fees that your delegation may or may not have paid. As Lux-Glossia is catering to such a diverse array of organisms with specialized diets (not everyone is fortunate enough to eat light), every effort was made to standardize nutritional inputs and deliver a suit of simple treats that most would find sufficient. The biological organisms responsible for producing the foodstuffs would be easy to culture yourself if you took a sample home. Every attendee will be gifted Trophic Deconvolution if they don't already have it.

Culture and characters:

For foreign powers who have had little contact with the peoples of Lux-Glossia except through rumors of their famed adventurers, pamphlets are available that summarize the local customs. This is an abbreviated version of my waters of the world post intended to give context to the attending characters.

Biologically, Lux-Glossia is composed roughly equally of two races, with a small smattering of cyphiri. The mer here are darker-skinned and as usual, have an average lifespan of about 80 years. The hermaphroditic lysimia are an 8 foot tall photosynthetic sea slug sister species to the Pfith, with an average lifespan of about 100 years.

Socially, Lux-Glossians live communally in groups called Shades. The vast majority of Lux-Glossians identify as male until a point in mid life (usually around 40 years of age), at which point they switch Shades and start to identify as female.

Politically, the Matriarch of every Shade participates in the law-making body called the Grand Conclave. When the leader of the Grand Conclave, the Grand Matriarch, dies or steps down, the eldest Matriarch becomes the new Grand Matriarch. There has never been a mer Grand Matriarch for reasons that should be obvious.

Interacting with the characters listed below is completely optional, but encouraged!

Spoiler: Characters of note

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Matriarch Lia of the Cerulean Shade - This wrinkled mer in her 80's has been the Scribe of the Conclave for decades and a vocal proponent of terrestrial wastes exploration ever since a Reaver attack destroyed her right eye and prehensile flipper. She leads a comparatively small Shade of scholars and librarians in Leriander, but has quite a bit of soft power in the Conclave due to her ability to influence the official records. Rumors say that she's attending the conference to seek a successor.

Matriarch Falnir Hallus of the Orange Shade - This Matriarch holds dual citizenship between Lux-Glossia and the Cyphiri Union, and has made history as the first ever cyphiri Matriarch. She lives full-time in Rumond, the home of Lux-Glossia's filtration grafting technological center. She's one of the instructors for the composite grafting workshop.

Matriarch Yuru Tlira of the Crimson Shade - One of few male Matriarchs, this lysimia in his 70's was elected to lead the Crimson Shade relatively recently after the previous Matriarch passed away. The Crimson Shade, which is located close to the wastes southeast of the Glossian Sea, has traditionally concerned itself with the maintenance and improvement of the Crimson Moonlight, the specialized giant jellyfish recently used to circumnavigate the world. He's here to look out for Yura, one of his sons, and to keep an eye out for a new home near a less-explored waste for his Shade.

Yura Lionard of the Crimson Shade - Yura is the famed voyager and artist responsible for The Around, a great work of sculpture and engraving. Approaching the age of transition, he's here to network with other individuals looking to settle into a new Shade.

Kikara of the Viridian Shade - One of the most esteemed scientists of Holy Ovum, the second largest city in the Glossian Sea, Kikara is here to give a talk on her research lab's latest findings in the field of evolutionary genetics. She has her eye on an upcoming grant, but it would require her to co-write a proposal with a principle investigator from another academic discipline or nationality.

Matriarch Lera of the Celadon Shade - Taking a small vacation from her time riding alongside the shark king's pojan nomads, Lera is back in Leriander to visit family and keep tabs on her various diplomatic contacts. The middle-aged mer's time with the nomads seems to have sharpened her into a woman willing to act decisively on her beliefs. She is a knife poised to strike, though her target yet remains in shadow...

Minigames:

Several events are available for your characters to participate in.

Spoiler: Event 1: Abstract submission

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Many months before OASIS even begins the following announcement trickles through academic channels, distributed by registered OAS members:

We're delighted to announce that the Oceanic Advances in Science International Symposium is now accepting abstracts for symposium talks and posters for the upcoming meeting, taking place in Leriander, Lux-Glossia. Selection of proposals will be aimed at spanning the range of interests of OAS members, including new exciting scientific developments, and representing the geographic and gender diversity of members. Selected proposals will give research presentations at the symposium, and all other abstracts will be invited to participate in our poster session.

Task: Submit the title of an academic article written in your nation, and a 1-2 sentence abstract describing the methods, results, and/or broader impacts.

Your submission will be awarded a score out of three points based on the following criteria:

- use of scientific jargon (fake jargon is acceptable)
- scientific merit
- comedic effect
- uniqueness
- vibes

I intend to read these to my lab mates (two Ph.D. students and a postdoc in evolutionary biology) and have them do the scoring. Have fun with it, and be creative!

For writing fluff, you may assume that your abstract was approved for your choice of poster or talk.

Spoiler: Event 2: Collaborative world map

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To celebrate the first OASIS with global participation, all attendees are invited to contribute to a collaborative art project! A huge, white marble wall has been imprinted with the rough shapes of the world's wastes regions. Volunteers nearby tote buckets of lurid, colored wax sticks (wax derived from crawfish shells, CRAWON brand) that can be rubbed on the marble to create images of home. The result will hopefully be a mix of colorful scribbles showcasing the diversity of the world, looking like it was drawn by a class of first-graders.

Task:
Disclaimer: You do not need artistic talent to participate in this event! Messy scribbles are anticipated and welcomed!
1. Go to the following link to access the canvas: https://magma.com/d/d5_5e5swzu
2. Click "continue without an account"
3. Assign yourself a nickname
4. Use the pencil tool (shortcut key N) set to 1 pixel
5. Draw something associated with one of your regions on the map where that region is located. Geographic features, native fauna and flora, and monuments are good choices, but not the only possible choices. Feel free to draw over the region labeling if you need to.
6. Label your drawing

Some tips:
- You can zoom in and out with the mousewheel
- You can move the canvas around by holding space while clicking and dragging
- Ctrl-Z is the shortcut to undo the last action
- If you really are struggling to make the website work (it can be overwhelming if you've never used an art program before), I will also accept pencil-tool drawings done in mspaint. I'll paste it into the canvas for you

You'll be awarded points based on the following:
+1 point for drawing literally anything
+1 point for using color
+1 point for legible labeling

Notably, artistic talent is NOT one of the requirements for getting points. Draw stick figures and scribbles!

Spoiler: Event 3: Workshops!

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After each day's talks have concluded, there are optional hands-on workshop sessions in the evenings. Seats are extremely limited in order to make sure everyone gets sufficient attention from the instructors. Some want to make a good impression by being the brightest mind in the room, while others focus on learning new skills. Your registration very strictly limits you to one workshop, citing lack of supplies, but you could probably sneak into a second one... It would also be a great opportunity to undermine a rival's reputation, if you could out them in the act of sneaking into a session.

Monday's workshop: Introductory Data Analysis Using Organelle Networks Running Sea++
Featured tech: Graduated Symbiosis
Attributes: Diplomacy and Intrigue

Tuesday's workshop: Joined at the Hip: Effective Methods for Training New Graduate Students
Featured tech: Composite Grafting
Attributes: Economy and Diplomacy

Wednesday's workshop: Basics of Fieldwork in Lethal Conditions
Featured tech: Supernatic Propagation
Attributes: Military and Faith

Thursday's workshop: Strategies for Leveraging your War Kraken to Obtain Additional Grant Funding
Featured tech: Megafaunal Tailoring
Attributes: Military and Economy

Friday's workshop: Ranged Repeater Reliability for Reproducible Research
Featured tech: Photospore Signaling
Attributes: Faith and Intrigue

Task:
1. Choose a day's workshop and one of the two attributes corresponding to that workshop. Roll 2d6 plus your leader's score in that attribute. Post your choice and the roll result in this thread. This is the workshop you're attending publicly.
2. Choose a second day's workshop and one of the two attributes corresponding to that workshop. Your chosen attribute cannot be the same one used for your public workshop. Send your selection to me (Aerin) via Discord message or private forum message. I will roll 2d6 plus your leader's score in that attribute after the deadline has passed. This is the workshop you're sneaking into.
3. Choose a rival nation attending this conference, and select the workshop and attribute combination that you think they will pick for their secret action. Also send this to me privately. This is the rival scientist you want to publicly humiliate by catching them in the act of dodging event security.

LUX will trade you the corresponding starter techs for both workshops you attended (if you don't already have them). Points will be awarded as outlined below based on which two workshops you attended, your chosen stats, your predictions, and your rolls.

+1 point for having the highest roll at a workshop
+2 points for attending the room with the lowest total score, summed across all attendees' rolls
+1 point for rolling using the less-used attribute for a room (ties = 0.5 points)
+1 point for correctly predicting the secret room of your rival
+1 point for correctly predicting the secret attribute of your rival
+1 point for correctly predicting BOTH the secret room and secret attribute of your rival

NO COLLUSION. In the interest of making the latter three points actually meaningful, please do not reveal your secret room and secret attribute to anyone. Academia is cutthroat; even your closest allies could scoop your next big finding. Or worse: steal your grant funding!

Prizes:

Points will be summed across all three minigames. First place (highest score) picks a prize from the following list first. Second place picks second. And so on.

- A cultural exchange with LUX, as collaboration blooms across national boundaries. (available to action and non-action attendees)

- The Crimson Moonlight, famous world-sailing specialized ship, and trained crew itching for new adventures. (only available to action attendees)

- The interest of the Cerulean Shade, which pledges an investigation into the topic or undiscovered region of your choice in round 15. Not applicable to wastes, terrestrial wastes, depth 2, or depth 3 regions. (available to action and non-action attendees)

- The hospitality of the Viridian Shade, which invites a named character from your nation to join its number ... and perhaps even lead it, one day. (fluff with no (current) mechanical effect, available to action and non-action attendees)

All symposium attendees will be gifted Trophic Deconvolution.
If you haven't already looked at it, here's a reminder that the workshop event also awards two starter techs to all participants.

Deadline for minigame posts: Wednesday, November 2nd at 7 PM Pacific Time. Good luck!

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Advocacy for Intraosseous Turritopsis Dohrnii Injections

Mabeline V. Mammos, Magma Falls University

Previous research has shown a high correlation between percentage of endermal surface coated with Turritopsis Dohrnii and incidental Platinum findings during wayward outings. To gather evidence towards causation of fortune, Magma Falls University has gathered ninety nine mermen within a temporary campus-created city to participate in an accelerated stock exchange, isolated from outside confounding factors.

Spoiler: Ooc note:

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(This is actually relevant for a tech I was (now might be) creating in game. The only reason I might change gears on this technology is if I can do something even cooler with the Unblemished Wreckage, but maybe I can do both simultaneously, or decide I like this more.)

[Aerin]

Fluff
See the characters of note spoiler above for more information about the Lux-Glossian figures attending!

Abstract submission
Feel free to write multiple abstracts, but only one will be scored.

Timing the Divergence of the Pfith and Lysimia: Before or After the Calamity?
Kikara Gralli of Holy Ovum Ring University
Pfith and lysimia have long been known to share a common ancestor (Orior et al.), but the exact point at which the two populations split from each other has been difficult to pinpoint using solely the fossil record (Yhora et al., Rlar et al.). Here, I use a recently developed coalescent hidden Markov model (SMC++, Terhorst et al. 2017) for population history inference from unphased short-read sequencing data to settle this historic debate.

Popular Board Games Ranked by Effectiveness at Reducing Boredom During a Three Month Voyage Across the Wastes
Matriarch Yuru Tlira of the Crimson Shade
WIP.

Collaborative world map
The Glossian Sea's biggest geographic feature, the Leriander ravine (you are here!) is scribbed upon the wall in a riot of color. Every Shade that lives in the ravine-city capital of Lux-Glossia wants to be represented, so the finer details of the city are mostly obscured with all the color names written around the drawing.

For the Tideswept Shelf, the disparate Shades instead collaborate on a giant brineray that spans the entire region. Rumond's inhabitants are extremely proud of being Lux-Glossia's finest source of brineray-based filtration grafts.

While the population at Narcis's Rest is tiny, someone still manages to block out space for the curved skeleton housing the Brilhinte temple.

Workshops
As host, LUX cannot sneak into sessions. Instead, I have an extra public workshop attendance. This is not an option for anyone else.

Matriarch Falnir Hallus teaches the composite grafting workshop on Tuesday with the help of several grad student volunteers from Rumond. She leverages her family connections to the Hallus to bring in grafting specimens from a wide array of Cyphiri-managed trading posts. Domesticated sea cows are too large (and valuable) to be used for grafting practice, but attendees get to splice and dice colorful tiny tubeworms, pungent ray-ear seaweed, pulsating bioluminescent tunicates, and brineray stingers. Grad student grafting subjects are not provided.

Attribute: Economy
Roll: 15

Matriarch Lia proves that one is never too old to learn new tricks by partaking in Friday's workshop for photospore signaling. She finishes constructing her own ranged repeater networks from photosensitive fungi in record time (the message it repeats is a common refrain in Conclave proceedings - "please submit a carbon-copy to the scribe's office"), then spends the rest of the session helping others. She pays very close attention to the signal encoding patterns that participants from other nations are using...

Attribute: Intrigue
Roll: 12

[Kythia]

(WIP)

Event 1:

Can I Eat This Rock Large, RF. 41

I found a rock. No one had writ down whether or not I could eat the rock. I tried to eat the rock. I could eat the rock. I don't know if this applies to other rocks.

Event 3:

Roll is 17 (Military)

The lone Magaramchon attendee, who seems to be there more by accident than anything else, attends Thursday's workshop on War Kraken's. When it becomes clear there is no war kraken there for him to eat, he starts to swim off but is distracted en route by a couple of scientists discussing the use of War Krakens in actual military engagements. Now, obviously even the largest Magaramchon is considerably smaller than a war kraken but they use themselves in similar ways and, by sheerest fluke he actually manages to say something somewhat relevant. (declaim, really - REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE IS THE BIGGEST AND THE SMARTEST HE KNOWS THE MOST ABOUT TINY WAR KRAKENS. QUIET AND LISTEN TO REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE. YOU NEED TO SWIM DOWN AT THEM... Also, the "f" in his name doesn't stand for freaking but later conference reports will likely sanitise it)

[MappyPK]

Splendid Miru Miru

Attendees

Spoiler: Professor Kino Blubba

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A bright red, wave-finned Taika with a beautiful marbled purple accent throughout her body, Professor Blubba is Miru Miru's finest physicist, specializing in the capability of the bubble for practical and aesthetic uses. As a foundational scholar in her field, few question her discoveries, which are quickly taught to young Taika in schools. She has a degree of attitude, simply unable to waste time explaining simple topics to those unsophisticated enough to ask basic questions about Bubbology, the study of bubbles. Her presence is often required among the militaristic and economic councils in Aniwana, but she has been awarded funding to present her ground-breaking research at the OASIS event this year. And, unfortunately, was required to bring along two of her graduate students, who haven't quite gotten a grasp on the purpose of Bubbology, having thought they were taking part in a standard physics courseload.

Spoiler: Tang Hokohoko, International Diplomat for the Bender

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Stoic and crafty, Hokohoko is an average-sized yellow Taika with blue stripes, known for his handling of trade deals within Miru Miru. He wears a small brown top hat wih a yellow buckle, and a pair of fancy specs, which he pushes in to read important documents. Any dispute over land and property ownership, for example, generally passed through Hokohoko's court. Tuatahi has sent him to the OASIS conference in order to conduct negotiations with other nations, perhaps offering to trade the secrets of Miru Miru's lastest discoveries.

Abstract Submission

Spoiler: Forcefully Generating the First Anti-Bubble

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As most scholars are aware, the traditional defining characteristic of a bubble is its globular structure, in which a gas is contained within a liquid barrier (for a review, see Blubba et al., 37b). The current study examines an alternate possibility within the realm of physics as we are currently aware: a droplet of a liquid surrounded by an extraordinarily thin layer of gaseous matter. The generation of such a marvel cannot be obtained by merely flipping a standard Taikan bubble inside-out, unfortunately. Through an intense brute-force method of trying various construction methods -- fusion, fission, reaction, decay, and so forth -- until one worked, the first of its kind has been created. Though we cannot sustain this so-called anti-bubble for more than a few seconds, we believe that further research into sustaining the entity, perhaps through the use of ultraviolet light in order to harden the gaseous shell to increase the unpopability factor, may introduce possibilities in the field of medicine, allowing for a long-lasting, easily digestible capsule (Whaka & Kaiai, 38).

The paper looks something like this:

Workshop Attendance

Spoiler: Public Attendance

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As boring as the topic sounded, Professor Blubba found herself forced to select Tuesday's workshop. Her students were not effectively following her orders, commands, and advice throughout the conference, so she believed that it would be beneficial for them to see this. They wouldn't go if they knew the real name of the seminar, though, so she made something up about currents, or something. That would grab a physics student's attention, probably. Roll: 21 using Economy.

[farothel]

A large group of scientists from the HISAR (Hymenocera Institute of Sponge and Algae Research), including its director Lord Limnadi, arrives at the conference. They start mingling and check out the room where Limnadi will give his presentation on the new grafting techniques, the abstract of which had been send in some time before and accepted for presentation at this conference.

Spoiler: OASIS abstract

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New grafting technique for attaching any bioluminiscent algae species to any sponge

Research in grafting techniques have yielded a small molecule that can bind any known bioluminiscent algae species to any known sponge species. Multiple variations where tested. They all bonded and the algae started taking their food from the sponge. The process of bonding was also faster and easier to guide than previous processes.

Spoiler: OASIS public workshop

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Monday's workshop: Introductory Data Analysis Using Organelle Networks Running Sea++
Featured tech: Graduated Symbiosis
Attributes: Diplomacy and Intrigue
Roll on Diplomacy (15)

[Gengy]

The Gotezhar

Feytor Mira'din begrudgingly allowed that attending this symposium was for the betterment of the Builder's Union, but mostly it was because of the opportunities available to her through diplomatic deals and negotiations with the Lux-Glossians.

Really, she just wanted to be at home, with Woenpal. Thinking about the Lojanese merchant, Mira'din was able to smile and perform the neccessary greetings to various dignitaries... while distinctly ignoring her companion, Joontar Arjiloza. Often thought to be amongst the smartest of Gotezhar, Arjiloza had somehow gotten a strip of black cloth, poked eye holes in it, and fastened it to their face, like some kind of bandit. Joontar Arjiloza was insisting they be referred to as 'Anon Researcher 32' for the entirety of the event, and Mira'din put up with it because the Gotezhar really was smart... most of the time.

It wouldn't hurt to let them have a little fun.

Mira'din wandered off to conduct her diplomatic matters - with her guards - and lost 'Anon Researcher 32' in the crowd, the totally-not-Joontar last seen positively giddy with all the new ideas in the air. Following behind the quickly lost science enthusiast was a single Mer Squall, who had orders to keep Researcher 32 safe. From themselves and others.

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Spoiler: Gotezhar Attendees of Note

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Feytor Mira'din - The Boss of the Gotezhar. Mer with a special Bolya of her own. And a spear. And guards. And an eye-rolling distain for this 'science' stuff, since the truly knowledgeable are often too difficult to understand.

Anon Researcher 32 - If you ask this masked Gotezhar if they are Joontar Arjiloza, they will deny it. Super excited to be here.

Squall Sofreem - A Mer guard who is following closely behind Anon Researcher 32. Clearly unhappy about his assignment.

Anon Researcher 32 will attend the Joined at the Hip: Effective Methods for Training New Graduate Students [roll: 12]

[Gengy]

Joontar Arjiloza Anon Researcher 32 quickly found an unused poster, and started setting up. Squall Sofreem scowled, wondering privately if the Gotezhar had permission to use the poster, and decided that this was probably a case best used to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. '32' had been working on something privately for years now, as soon as they heard about the Symposium being held. Sofreem had been the Joontar's guard (and reluctant research assistant) for that whole time. The Mer guard was initially proud of his posting; after all, he'd been raised by Gotezhar, and he'd had to beat several more skilled Squalls for this position, but as the years went by, Sofreem realized that Feytor Mira'din had chosen him because '32' need a babysitter as much as they needed a personal guard.

As the culmination of several years of work, though, Squall Sofreem did his duty and scowled at anyone who looked like they might object the the masked Gotezhar presenting their data. With any luck, this would mean that Sofreem could finally stop hearing about this topic. Probably not, though.

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Theoretical Science of Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis
An Analytic Anonymous Perspective Paper on the Effects of Gotezhar Aging

Abstract
A fact-based perspective paper originally investigating the effects of nonspecified etherically empowered magmatic mitosis, and how it occurs, but ultimately abandoning that line of questioning in favor of not having to explain 'magic'. Instead focusing on evidence based observations of Actualization Shard averages on the Gotezhar lifespan (with occasional humorous anecdotes left in because hand writing on expensive underwater paper does not allow for corrections). With citations from such notables as the Doupour Joontar Historical Committee, Perv, and Profundus Karalegull.

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Spoiler: Theoretical Science of Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis, full article

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Theoretical Science of Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis
An Analytic Anonymous Perspective Paper on the Effects of Gotezhar Aging

Within all the oceans, the Gotezhar are a unique and unusual species. Lacking observable structural similarity to any other known species, intelligent or otherwise, the Report from the Documentation Historians of Elyan'dan have categorized the Gotezhar as “an extraplanar evolutionary line” (‘The Hell Are These Things?’, Roger’in, Year 2). All verifiable information suggests this is accurate; the original Gotezhar Progenitor appears to have been a summoned extraplanar aquareaneous organism, colloquially known as a ‘water elemental’. For reasons unknown, the Progenitor was not forcibly expelled nor willfully exfiltrated to their plane of origin upon the passing of the Summoner.

What is known is that “at the time of the Summoner’s death, the Progenitor was in possession a number of nonspecified etherically empowered magmatics” (‘Ooo! Shiny Magic Stones!’, Merchant Gimmi, Year 31). These magmatics were supposedly key in the primal procreation of the Gotezhar, the specifics of which is indeterminate on a factual, reproduceable, level; regardless of the reproduction results. Supposedly, at the time of the Progenitor, there was a greater level of rain – a key ingredient in Gotezhar Bolya, as they require unsalineated hydrogen dioxide to protect their weaker organs – and the magmatics were able to perform guided actualization, followed by solo aquareaneous globular insertion. All interviewed sources (Dounpor Joontar Historical Committee, Aggregated, Year 38) agree: “He did it himself. A lot.”

However it was initially completed, the current method of Gotezhar reproduction (Mingling) uses a similar form of guided actualization, though it is a partnership between two Gotezhar of appropriate ages. Those ages are determined not by years of life, but instead by number of Actualization Shards a Gotezhar has. A Shard will typically perform crystalized mitosis for the first time – and every time after – every twenty years, but not every Shard doubles on that timeframe, which is discussed later in this paper. Returning to reproduction, “Gotezhar births occur when two Gotezhar – both old enough that their Shards have split at least once – go to the surface of the seas and perform the Mingling; a pleasurable act that shares and swaps fresh water from their individual Bolyas. If both Gotezhar desire it, the Mingling will also reduce the amount of fresh water in their Bolyas by about five gallons each, and each Gotezhar will also lose a Shard. One Shard will grow into a new biological body of the newborn, while the other will become the newborn’s first Actualization Shard.” (‘An Ocean of Sex’, Sum Perv, Year 12)

It is this unique method of Gotezhar naissance that drew this researcher’s attention, but the further exploration of just how Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis occurs proved far too difficult a concept to comprehend, much less document. Multiple requests to watch a Mingling were rebuffed, though it did lead to the research of previously cited Sum Perv, an individual whose insight into various species reproductive methods and their results can be found only with permission from Temperate regional elders, as Perv’s work is unquestionably detailed and, in the opinion of this researcher, not suitable for younger audiences. Or, indeed, older audiences. That said, it is hard to argue that Perv’s work was not life changing, in that previously, this researcher felt that all questions should be answered. After reviewing just one of Perv’s heavily detailed collections, this researcher now knows: while all questions are meant to be answered, some answers are not meant to be documented and shared. Further discussion of these findings will be in a future paper, tentatively titled "Socioeconomic Impact of Finding Too Many Holes in Another Researcher’s Body of Work.”

We have strayed from the thrust, excuse us, the point, of this perspective: Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis. It would seem that there are some properties of the original nonspecified etherically empowered magmatics that have persisted in genealogies of all Gotezhar family groups. Inexplicable though their actual splitting might be, there are some observations that can be determined based on the number of average Actualization Shards in individual Gotezhar. As a Shard Mitosis occurs at regular individuals for most Progenitor descendants, these observations are directly related to Gotezhar age, as well as – surprisingly – caste. In order to review these findings, then, we must first discuss castes.

Though their Bolya continue to grow in relation to how much unsalineated hydrogen dioxide they have accumulated - which has interesting effects on how close to the two decade mark an Actualization Shard will perform Crystalized Mitosis - Gotezhar fully mature within three years of their birth. Shortly after complete maturation, Gotezhar select a caste for themselves. The most common caste for the species is that of a Worker, performing a wide variety of labor, including but not limited to fishing, gathering, and building. Workers were initially also merchants, though the concept of mercantile endeavors is still a nascent development within Gotezhar history. Certainly, recognition of the specialization and subsequent creation of the Merchant caste in the past few decades has created verifiable results and changes in the overall average number of shards (see Figure 1). Merchant caste Gotezhar focus almost exclusively on buying, selling, and maintaining goods and services. The Joontar caste of Gotezhar are the most knowledgeable members of their society, primarily functioning as priests, historians, and bureaucrats. Squall caste Gotezhar have unique physiological differences, in order to best maximize on their obligations of peace keeping and matters of war, allowing them to better utilize the Gotezhar ability to manipulate a certain area of localized water, which is different for every individual, but notably stronger in Squall. Finally, the last caste is that of Profundus. Any Gotezhar may eventually reach the level of Profundus, though very few do; this caste often possess the largest Bolya, and also the largest amount of responsibilities. The exact nature of becoming Profundus, and therefore Gotezhar nobility, seems to be a mix of Bolya size, recognition by peers, and above all: ability to handle these extra duties, without giggling at the word duty.

Figure 1 shows that each caste gains (on average) a certain amount of Actualization Shards within their Bolya at a certain age.

Figure 1 - Actualization Shard Average Numbers per Caste

Of particular interest to this researcher are the following observations:

A Worker Caste Gotezhar begins and ends their life with the least number of Shards, and the majority of their life they only have two or less, yet somehow they are still the most populous of Gotezhar. This suggests that somewhere between years 20 and 60, they gain – and subsequently use for reproduction – additional Shards, but almost always have (2) within their physiology, unless a recent procreation has occurred.

Merchant Caste Gotezhar, though not having been alive long enough to provide a single lifetime example point of datum, have already shown that anyone who changed from a Worker to a Merchant Caste, seem to evolve additional needed Shards during their next Crystalized Mitosis, sometimes splitting more than just one Shard at a time. Speculation based on interviews with existing Merchant Gotezhar of each age group suggests the Figure 1 data, particularly with observable evidence during the early decades to reinforce the evidence, will mean that Merchants will be the new baseline group for Gotezhar as a whole; at least, in terms of numerical averages of Actualization Shards.

The Joontar Gotezhar almost always end up with a larger than average amount of Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis at the time of their first independent Mitosis period (year 20), possibly resulting from their additional responsibilities they have accepted onto themselves.

Squall Caste Gotezhar seem to have an early Mitosis period, previously undocumented and just assumed to be ‘common knowledge’. They also have a greater amount of Actualization Shards, compared to any other caste, and gain them at a more accelerated rate, before stalling to a maximum level of growth. This researcher freely admits, however, that the number of available Squall whom live beyond Year 60 without becoming Profundus limits the overall data. Those whom were able to be found were often internal peace keepers, and not members of the famed Gotezhar Tempest armed services.

Regarding the Profundus, no single Profundus was found to be under the age of 60, and the majority of ‘new’ Profundus were at least 70, offering valuable data that Crystalized Mitosis can occur on a non-bidecade period, as each Profundus gains at least one additional Actualization Shard upon their, for lack of a better term, promotion. It should be noted that this is in addition to whatever number of Shards they had from their previous Caste, and their next Mitosis period adds even more Shards.

It was through speaking with Profundus, whom are overall curt if otherwise sociable – likely due to how busy they are – that this researcher observed another discovery: Mitosis does not always occur in every Shard. Actualization Shards can split, but the more common occurrence is that each Shard will grow a barely noticeable amount, likely adding to their nonspecified etherical empowerment. “Sure, if I don’t get a new Shard, I get stronger,” (‘Why Are You Looking at Me Funny, Get Out: A Dissertation’, Profundus Karalegull, Year 38), adding, “but seriously, get out of my house.”

This, combined with commentary regarding Gotezhar intellect, brought this researcher to our next observations: Overall Intelligence based on age groups.

It should be clearly stated that establishing some kind of intelligence quotient is a ridiculous idea, that would likely only further serve to bolster attitudes of superiority, and this researcher wouldn’t know where to begin in order to avoid finding empirical data that they are, in fact, somehow lacking in intellect. Such an outcome cannot be allowed to occur, so instead of creating a baseline for all species, we will instead focus entirely on our subjects, the Gotezhar.

Gotezhar maturation being complete at age three, in addition to Workers being the most common Caste, allows for a wider range of prospective individuals to base our findings on. It was through this that we established a level of ‘1’ Gotezhar Intelligence Quotient (GIQ), and all subsequent datum is based on this. Interviews with a wide range of castes, with questions pertaining to a large number of topics, produced Figure 2.

​Figure 2 - Observable Intelligence Levels

This data shows that Squall generally earn the overall thinking that they are thickheaded, considering they are below the Worker baseline for at least 40 years; meanwhile, Worker Gotezhar, even at an advanced age, aren’t all that smart either in the long run, but the few advanced Squall are very worldly. Figure 2 supports the idea that Joontar and Profundus are much more capable of making informed decisions, due to their higher levels of intellect, but most interesting to note is the Merchant caste. Nominally Workers, the past few decades have shown a marked improvement in comprehension abilities.

However, the more observant will note that Figure 2 is labeled ‘Initial Data’. In Profundus Karalegull’s most recent Thesis Statement, ‘I Can Kill You Where You Stand if You Don’t Leave Me Alone’ (Karalegull, Year 39) the highly respected Merchant stated, “Of course they are dumb about all these weird topics, they only know what they are supposed to know!” This suggests that Gotezhar are not intelligent about the wide variety of topics previously questioned, but instead, specialized knowledge. Quickly leaving Profundus Karalegull’s continuing lecture, much to this researcher’s regret at not being able to help prove the theorem, another round of interviews was required. Talking to the same subjects all over again was much easier, when the questions were aimed at their chosen Caste and no other topic. See Figure 3.

Figure 3, Observable Intelligence Levels, Refined Data

There are many pieces of data to which hold great interest, the least of which is that Squall are undeniably intelligent when it comes to the use and application of force, only growing more knowledgeable as they continue to live, finally peaking around year 60 (unless, as previously mentioned, they choose to become Profundus).

Workers still create our baseline, but there is an enormous uptick in knowledge for their particular profession around the age of 60, while Merchants – possibly due to the overall burgeoning understanding by Gotezhar on the topic – maintain a certain level of specialized knowledge past year 40.

Joontar, meanwhile, learn quickly about what it is they need to know, and reach their peak Specialized GIQ at the earliest age.

Perhaps most interesting of all, the Profundus specialized knowledge is less additive and more multiplicative! Providing a clear sign for when a Gotezhar has properly reached the Profundus level, when they are provable more knowledgeable about their chosen specialization than nearly anyone else on the matter.

In conclusion, because this researcher is running out of the very expensive underwater paper, Gotezhar Actualization Shard Crystalized Mitosis deserves further study, as the more Shards a Gotezhar has effects not only their birth rate, but also their individual intelligence, their personal nonspecified etherical empowerment, and their ability to control their localized hydrogen dioxide. This researcher will continue to investigate, and hopes that, in some small way, this contribution to overall sciences will encourage others to Accumulate more Knowledge.

[Feathersnow]

The World Garden at the OASIS

Spoiler: attendees

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Genitor Judax (female Hermit Crab, 35)
A senior research in the field of engineering intelligence

Librarian Migdol (male Hermit Crab, 9)
A prodigy, he is one if the very few Astartes granted a formal education and one of the even fewer to rise by merit in the caste based World Garden society.

Abstract:

Ennui in Domesticated Cephalopods, a Cost-Benefit Analysis

This paper attempts to analyze the way engineering greater intelligence in riding squid may lead to behavioral problems as they increase the capacity for boredom and even existential dread. This is compared to the utility of greater intelligence and tractability instilled by genetic and epigenetic engineering, and an attempt is made to identify both the asymptotic and ideal points of increase in improvement without radical changes to the core genome.

Publicly attending: Monday's Workshop. Biocomputing is of extreme interest to the primarch, especially after Project Eusebia went rogue

[Lumaeus]

Riftlings do not use technology and will not accept any from the attendees and hosts. They neither sow nor reap, yet the Mother provides for them. That other species require compensation for their biological failings is not itself a sin, and the Old Fathers do not and will not condemn their pitiful scrambles to keep up. However, the feud with the Abyssal Stewards has made clear to the Many that isolate reliance on technology can replace reason, and lust for scientific marvels can supplant morality. Thus, this conference must be monitored for any untoward speech, and refutation of the falsely exclusive claims of technology made. And so out of the Anointed Prophet of the Eternal Communion and the remnant memories of the Ambassador to Treacherous Isolates are purpose-built a new cluster:

Spoiler: The Delegation

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The Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery are initially absent. A delegation of thousands of Chrysomallon Kiwa were seen leaving the Seas-Not-Yet-Dead as soon as the conference was announced. Though the intervening waters were primarily peaceable, the ravages of the sea are boundless, and every week, fewer remain. Food, initially, is not lacking. There are dead everywhere, and with the journey beginning through Doflein territory, scraps of rot are easily at claw. In some intervening territory, however, there is less to be had, and the crabs fall to cannibalization. Eventually, thinned by depredations from without and within, a few dozen arrive for the conference and cluster just outside of the set up until it begins, picking absently at any floating debris in hopes of flesh.

On the first day of the conference, the Kiwa shift slightly, and from within their shells begin to flow millions upon millions of Riftling polyps. While a fair few hundred are snatched by the crabs and consumed, the vast majority are able to swarm, and as they join, the cluster begin to take shape. The cluster are still sizable, and would have been truly monstrous if the lost Kiwa were bearing similar amounts of polyps. They form a wheel within a wheel, vague sparks of polyps occasionally bursting from one circle to the other. A large sphere, itself the size of a large mer, flows endlessly into itself in the center, creating an uneasy vision for any who look too closely upon it.

As the Kiwa clamber over each other to pick a few more delicious polyps from the lower edge of the outer wheel, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treacheries steady itself. They have been judged worthy, that they may now judge.

Spoiler: Abstract

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Believing Makes it So: A Refutation of Technology's Treacherous Claims to Exclusive Dominion over the Imposition of Collective Will upon the Sea
Prophet of the Eternal Communion, The Anointed; Leader to the Unguided Isolates, the Spiritual; Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treacher, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many; et infinitum

It has long been established that isolate virtue is reliable only so far as their will extends, and that this will can be made malleable through technological bribery, though it come from wicked sources (Treacherous Stewards, 37). In this case study, we observe how the introduction of faith-based Communion with the ravages of the Abyss provide greater protection than the false aegis of frail sciences, suggesting that faith alone can accomplish all things (Luther, 1520).

Spoiler: Event Attendance

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The Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor of Technological Treacheries attend the most useful of the talks, Basics of Fieldwork in Lethal Conditions. They are thrilled to see isolates contemplating survival in inhospitable places, and hope that by use of the technologies at hand, more races will be able to free themselves of the burden of cohabitating life and the blight of ecosystems. At no time do they quite realize that the goal for most attendees is merely the mitigation, not the embrace, of lethal circumstance, but rarely have a cluster so enthusiastically participated in discussion. Mind, the Hierophant seem to believe that saying "just have faith," "use an artifact of your god," and "a 3% rate of survival should be more than enough" are reasonable contributions, but hey, at least they aren't denouncing everyone present.

Roll: Faith 17

The Riftlings do not know deceit and thus do not sneak into further events nor suspect it of others.

[JBarca]

The Shifting Ennead sends two people of note, alongside a handful of servants, scribes, guards, and the like. First is Aulerus, children of Prince Telian. Aulreus is two Doflein fused together at the mantle, leaving them with three eyes, fourteen tentacles, and twice the brain of any other of their species. The second is Ilbio, a respected and aged scientist, famed for having studied and explained the phenomenon that is the Firefly Squid of Maurente.

The Enneii spend much of the conference simply exploring, though they of course make public appearances as necessary. Ilbio is an excitable fellow who is responsible for any scientific talks, while Aulerus spend their time pressing the cold, clammy flesh and beaking babies.

Spoiler: Abstract

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Harnessing Chaos: On the Viability of Introducing Callowflesh into the Eternal Reunion Cycles
The newly-established program of reducing, reusing, and recycling biomaterial within the Eternal Reunion is in its nascent stages, and this project attempts to produce greater efficiency within its workings by introducing Callowfish into the early stages of development. The Callowfish are a small, highly localized variety of fish that are highly susceptible to mutation and suffer from lifespans measured in hours. By setting aside a small portion of the Reunion's processing power to inputting Callowflesh, the goal was to find, then replicate through careful harvesting, uniquely valuable outputs. With most of the Reunion serving as a control, this study achieved its goal within days. Nothing produced by the Callowfish-altered section, whether first, second, third, or fourth generation, nor any byproducts of the same, proved both viable and replicable - hardly any results were even edible by Mer test subjects.

Spoiler: Workshops

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Ilbio excitedly attempts to pull the delegation to a specific workshop, but Aulerus' higher station allows them to, ultimately, choose their destination. The needs of the Ennead are set aside for the week, unsurprisingly, and the young heirs of Telian decide to investigate a person project and curiosity. Ilbio is seen casting furtive glances at the schedule for another day.

Attending - Wednesday's workshop: Basics of Fieldwork in Lethal Conditions
Roll: (MIL) Nineteen (19)

[Epinephrine_Syn]

Mawbel attends the War Kraken seminar and takes studious notes. Her details on the other seminars went well, she at least tried to peek at them all. Only one of them caught her interest long enough to actually stay for the full scope.

At the same time, the plant beast wonders whether she can acquire a Krakken of her own. More funding, more money, more research. More profits? Good enough.

Maybe the wreckage she's dug up out of the oceans is shaped like a Krakken? Close enough, probably?

[LapisCattis]

In a time of active war, it is somewhat a surprise to see the reclusive Unity out and about, but the call of science must be answered! Two Unity colonies attend to present an abstract for consideration, both large enough to convey intelligence, but still seeming young enough for excitement.

Abstract for Consideration:

Building for the future: Purpose-driven colonization of osseus tissue for habitat acclimation and disaster recovery

Using traditional and proven methods for rapid coralline colonization, we tested deliberate establishment of 30 colonies in two site treatments - sites impacted by Trawling Beast activity (sd = 35% or higher) and sites impacted by high waste contamination (w = 0.4 or higher) - and a control treatment. We found that successful establishment of new colonies consistently attracted ecologically important fauna and algal species relevant for restoring biodiversity and reinitialize crucial ecosystem services; our results encourage the donation of osseus tissue of variable sizes to establish coralline colonies in similar highly impacted areas to recover these sites for more versatile use.

[TheDarkDM]

The Siren Taman had been honored by her appointment as the Lambent Matron's representative at this strange conclave of learning. A native of Senja Bersinar since her rebirth into beauty as part of blessed Adiratna's entourage, Taman was well-acquainted with the ways of lesser cultures, and had excelled among her fellow princesses in Adiratna's court for her curiosity in and acceptance of inferior ways. That she had played a supporting role in the perfection of Indah's Embrace was of lesser importance, though likely to mean more among her peers. Assigned a presentation time with her team of attendants and bodyguards, she eagerly prepared her prospectus -

Increased Absorption Rate in the Gill Membrane through Exotic Suspension Media

The interaction of artificial compounds with the blood/oxygen membrane of the gills is of enormous interest to advances in pharmacology (see figures 1, 5, 9, and 13), toxicology (see figure 2), and national defense (see figure 3). In this presentation, we of the Lambent Syndicate will detail successful efforts to both breed noninvasive symbiotes capable of accelerating gill membrane bloodflow in 87% of documented sentients (see figure 4) and to develop of new application media for synthesized compounds that minimize natural rejection rates and accelerate courses of treatment (see figures 6, 7, and 15).

Afterwards, she chose to attend Thursday's workshop. (Economy +10)

[Lumaeus]

Spoiler: To Matriarch Lia of the Cerulean Shade: A Commendation

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The Hierophant are not adept at decorum but understand keenly the need to wait for invitation and permission, and so they seek out audience with the Matriarch and wait patiently until and if it is given. Should it be, they speak thus:

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. Long have we of the Communion openly disdained the folly of exploration, and in your great successes your people have well proven us right; as the ocean proves ever smaller, we must be on guard against the excesses of all the world. And yet, your global influence and the respect that all seem to bear you demonstrates clearly that these dangers you have unleashed can be dealt with, and we are committed to doing so with similar success. We regret your actions, but understand keenly the need for connection that solitude-addling Isolation can cause, for are we not ourselves naught when we are not our Self?

You, however, we know to be wiser than the common isolate. Word has reached us in these days of trying diplomacy and denunciation of your campaign to turn the blighted lens of discovery onto nobler targets. You may be aware that we are as a race engaged in a war of extermination with the treacherous Reavers. We wish to commend you for your work, and offer you any of our powers which we have to spare to aid in this fight. We know your people have not sought the Communion and we will not force transcendence upon you. Instead, do not let yourselves be blinded by the stultified certainty in these halls; belief outweighs fact, and through your faith you can move islands. Your Flowing Way is peaceable, and we encourage its spread wherever other faithful do not practice.

Spoiler: To Matriarch Yuru Tlira of the Crimson Shade: A Welcome-but-write-welcome-in-sarcasm-quotes-well-no-not-sarcasm-quotes-but-like-you-know-like-how-the-Riftlings-don't-really-do-welcome-but-this-totally-passes-for-one-you-know

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The Hierophant are not adept at decorum but understand keenly the need to wait for invitation and permission, and so they seek out audience with the Matriarch and wait patiently until and if it is given. Should it be, they speak thus:

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. Long have we of the Communion openly disdained the folly of exploration, and in your great successes your people have well proven us right; as the ocean proves ever smaller, we must be on guard against the excesses of all the world. And yet, your global influence and the respect that all seem to bear you demonstrates clearly that these dangers you have unleashed can be dealt with, and we are committed to doing so with similar success. We regret your actions, but understand keenly the need for connection that solitude-addling Isolation can cause, for are we not ourselves naught when we are not our Self?

We have, however, heard tell of your search for new waters to infest. While we would caution you against such foolishness, which will open you up to the twin terrors of neighbors and natives, we would like to give you our grudging acceptance should you end up in our local waters. Your people are by all accounts peaceable and measured; we would expect no attacks nor undue visitations from such nearness. We have seen your abstract and are also gratified that your science is harmless fluff rather than a true treachery which we would be bound to condemn. Moreover, we expect that the military powers of the Eternal Communion would be more than able to excise you if your demeanor changed for the worse. We fear you not.

Spoiler: To Kikara Gralli of Holy Ovum Ring University: Bafflement

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The Hierophant are not adept at decorum but understand keenly the need to wait for invitation and permission, and so they seek out audience with the Matriarch and wait patiently until and if it is given. Should it be, they speak thus:

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. Long have we of the Communion openly disdained the folly of exploration, and in your great successes your people have well proven us right; as the ocean proves ever smaller, we must be on guard against the excesses of all the world. And yet, your global influence and the respect that all seem to bear you demonstrates clearly that these dangers you have unleashed can be dealt with, and we are committed to doing so with similar success. We regret your actions, but understand keenly the need for connection that solitude-addling Isolation can cause, for are we not ourselves naught when we are not our Self?

We come to seek clarification. Why do you seek in your science to supplant whatever meager gods you serve? The matter of relation would be clear if you simply compared your deities. Are you born of the same source or of one separated? What more matter is there than that? If your lines are separate, you are alien, and if your lines of a single origin, you are one. You create troubles for yourself and confusion for your readers. This is, however, no treachery, for the sufferings are wrought only on yourselves. We understand not, but condemn not.

Spoiler: To Mawbel: Appreciation

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The Hierophant are quick to seek out their dear ally's work and are immensely appreciative. Though this be science, there is Communion to it. They suppose. To be fair, it's pretty unclear to the Riftlings how all this economy stuff really works considering their simplicities, but when Mawbel talks about it, it sure seems to make sense, and Mammos didn't arise from a lack of faith, so it's gotta have something to it.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We are grateful to see another faithful soul at this conference dedicated to the treachery of technology and affirm the support of the Riftlings and of the Communion--support both for your research and for your plight. The Stewards have no more enticements for our faithful, and we will continue to exterminate their hold on our waters. We stand ever with you.

Spoiler: To the Magaramchon: Approval

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The Hierophant are quick to signal their approval to RFL for his scientific contributions.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We are much gratified to see your thorough and thought-provoking research. We would ourselves offer a further avenue of consideration, namely whether one might by force of faith and will create a set of conditions under which all rocks become edible, if they are not already. We find your science to not be one of treacherous technologies but of direct working of belief on the world, and we deem this faith. You are a noble thinker, and we hope you shine as a beacon to some of the lesser minds of this conference.

Spoiler: To Professor Kino Blubba: Pity

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The Hierophant approach the professor with the same measured revulsion which an isolate might use when nearing a sick packfish that it must put down.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We have seen through the florid excesses of your jargon-encrusted abstract and understand the thrust of your research more well than most here. You speak of your search for medicine capsules, fighting futilely against the death that even now approaches you. We know nothing of this horror and we offer our sympathies that you have, in your terror, sought refuge in the arms of an impotent and unnatural science. We don't condemn your flights of fancy but we do offer this comfort: you can cease the fight. To be an isolate is to already know death. Your time is brief, and you and your works will be forgotten. The tragedy of your life will pass away sooner than you know, and in that futility we pray their is solace.

Spoiler: To Lord Limnadi: A Correction

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The Hierophant are pleased to see that yet another work at this conference is made with the goal of Communion in mind. The poor scientists are, as in the other cases, a little confused, but you can tell that they've got the spirit.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We have read your abstract and are impressed that you were, despite your biological shortcomings, able to see that research into Communion is the only way to seek out a life with meaning. We already note a few problems, however. Your work seems to focus on physical elements like bonding and feeding. While not outside of interest, these are really ancillary aspects to Communion. By only focusing on the physical, you are combining organisms into composite isolates rather than into eternal clusters--and we apologize for revealing this embarrassment to you. We encourage you to pay more close attention to a fusing of the mind, and thereby the throughline of life. With care and a few small miracles, perhaps your distant descendants may one day escape from the cosmic meaninglessness of the lives your people now lead.

Spoiler: To Anon Researcher 32: Warm Reception

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The Hierophant are quick to read the research paper, using their many eyes and minds to accomplish in a moment what other species would take time to do. After a moment's thought, they seek out Anon Researcher 32.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We commend you on your recognition of the limits of necessary knowledge in light of Perv's findings. We would be better off, all of us, were others as wise as you--we would not even be able to have such a discussion, so closed and insular would our blessed existences be. Having by the work of the Lux-Glossians been denied such an existence, we instead rejoice in your deep knowledge of the self.

We would suggest that the limits discovered by your paper be considered not chiefly but solely from a societal perspective. So what of the general idiocies of the working class or of the only-briefly-interrupted foolishness of your intellectuals? As a whole, your people are knowledgeable. So what if some are weak and few are mighty? Together, you control the seas and dare to breach to the harsh surface. Your weaknesses show in differentiation, but you fail to consider what power you hold together.

We may be speaking out of turn, but your shards and your abilities suggest more than mere science can illuminate. We would encourage a step towards the power of faith. A power beyond mere technology would lie open to you if you embraced the truth beyond the mere real. Some can work miracles, as we so gladly and often prove. Bend your research past the physical bounds within which it struggles, and we are certain of reward.

Spoiler: To Genitor Judax: You ruined a perfectly good squid! Look at it, it's got anxiety!

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The Hierophant are not impressed by the World Garden's Work, and are quick to criticize.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. Having looked over your work, we are greatly disturbed by its implications. While intelligence is not itself a failing, the introduction of it into the otherwise empty life of a being of no importance only serves to separate it further from its surroundings. The waves and the currents are not isolates but communing in the vastness of the sea. Meanwhile, a mer is a tragic thing, alone in itself and aware of its own futility. Why would you seek to take something further from the Simplest Communion and sequester it from its place in the senseless natural order? This work may not yet be abomination, but its implications that way trend. We firmly denounce your research and condemn further unjustified inquiry along this line.

Spoiler: To Aulerus: Satisfaction

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The Hierophant are always grateful to see friendly faces at the conference. Aulerus is simply much less objectionable than strangers would be, and the cluster gladly go to greet them. As they assume befits Ennead sensibility, they ignore the scientist and credit only the noble.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We are gratified to see that our friends within the Communion have brought wisdom to this house of fools. We have read your work and found it encouraging. The introduction of the chaotic element not only unifies many fleshes into one, but further works to bring even possibilities into Communion--perhaps the first concrete advancement achieved by any of the work on display here. Moreover, the inedibility of the flesh, though you appear to have accidentally elided this point, must surely produce more mermatter with which further work can be done. Prince Telian can be proud of his children, who, we are pleased to say, is invited always to request of us the aid necessary in their further work.

Spoiler: To the Unity: Disgust

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The Hierophant are quick to recoil from the careful work of the Unity and are yet quicker to respond.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We cannot reject your work on the grounds that it is treacherous, but that you infect otherwise sterile ocean with all manner of lifeblight is unfathomable. We warn you to keep such foolishness from our lands.

Spoiler: To Taman: A pat on the head

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The Hierophant would laugh to themself if they were a species capable of humor. The abstract is almost juvenile in its simplistic intentions.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We applaud your attempt to unify creatures, but we can assure you that your attempt to introduce symbiotes into your systems will not help you evade the death that is your birthright. It is not by opening yourself to outsiders that you will first find Communion, but rather by opening yourselves to each other. This is an impressive, though futile project, and we would encourage you to waste no more of your limited and forgettable life with it.

[Czard]

Having little interest in sending their scientific secrets abroad, the Keja of Surunung initially opposed having any of their scientists or representatives attend OASIS. Still, the Assembly had interest in learning of what their rivals had been working on, so a meager attempt was made by the Suru scientists to collect this information; all the research arm of the Keja Pod would muster for OASIS was a junior Suru scientist and what was apparently an unpaid Rahaa intern, both seemingly clueless of the latest developments and discoveries in the Caverns of Kejakota. Jarumum, a decrepit and geriatric Suru who never seemed to quite know what was going on, was one of the original minds working on the creation of the first iteration of Kejatara, but has since proven to lack much further usefulness to the field due to his clumsiness causing him to be a serious liability as evidenced by his bearing of numerous scars from toxic Tara spines. Thus deemed a perfect fit for this glorified act of lip service. With him, he brought the comparatively tiny Cilaya, his Rahaa assistant for the trip who was quite adept at gathering information and going unnoticed due to her small size.

Spoiler: Event 1: Abstract

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A comprehensive study of the driving forces of the Gyre of Rahakera: The Big Swim Oceanographical Model
Jarumum Keja of the Keja Science Team

One of the most distinct and previously mysterious features of Rahakera was the clockwise circulation of water about the center of the region that spanned the diameter of the depression in the seafloor, known as an oceanic gyre. The driving force of this gyre has been popularly attributed to a supernatural influence and thus cannot be modeled or described according to this assumption, with as many as 63% of the region’s inhabitants subscribing to this belief (Fishipedia, 1962). Recent developments in this field have discredited this baseless theory as bogus pseudoscience fabricated by con-fish to accumulate wealth and influence. Described here is a new model dubbed “The Big Swim Model” that describes the driving force of the oceanic gyre and is consistent with other recent findings (Tahumum Keja, et. al.). Evidence that the model is based on suggests that the driving force of the gyre is momentum imparted on the water by the movement of organisms into and out of the region, hence the name “Big Swim”. The mechanical energy input from these organisms has been determined to account for more than 99% of the energy input to the whole system and is thus the only significant force maintaining the flow. Other factors such as temperature gradients, density gradients, or momentum from currents in nearby regions are not considered in the model due to their assumed small effect on the flow.

Spoiler: Event 3: Workshop

Show

Jarumum, wielding spectacularly low awareness, wanders into Monday’s workshop for Introductory Data Analysis, thinking he had successfully signed up for all five and could attend them in all. In reality, the organizers only reserved a seat for him at the first workshop he had signed up for, which would come as a nasty surprise to the old Suru the next day. Still, he was dumbfounded and fascinated by what he saw and heard. Roll: 8 using Intrigue

[bc56]

It is rare to find a scientist among the Pfith. That race is not overly given to rational thought, after all.
But a Doctor Ydottl has arrived at the conference, bearing detailed research notes on what they dub the "Toxfall Gorge." It's an inhospitable, formerly contaminated region recently incorporated into Pfilghol. The research centers around the toxins found within ruined canisters in the gorge, apparently having fallen a great distances from the surface.

Spoiler: Abstract

Show

Toxic Properties of Substance 32-G on Various Organisms
The chemical mixture designated 32-G found within the Toxfall Gorge possesses unusually potent toxic and mutagenic properties. We devised an experiment to test its efficacy and limitations.
Methods
We constructed sealed enclosures to contain assorted Pfithreef fish. One was left untouched, one was exposed to quantities of 32-G consistent with the shallows above the Gorge, at 0.02 parts per million, and the last was exposed to quantities of 32-G consistent with the depths of the Gorge, at 6 ppm. We observed the enclosures every hour and recorded our observations.
Results
Fish contained within the most contaminated enclosure rapidly suffered severe tissue degradation and metastatic tumors. At the first hour mark, all subject fish were deceased and judged unsafe for Pfith consumption. Within the less contaminated enclosure, fish survived 45 hours until perishing due to similar symptoms localized to their gills and digestive tracts. The fish within the uncontaminated enclosure survived only 26 hours, as an intern forgot to oxygenate the water, but would have hypothetically survived indefinitely if not for this gross act of incompetence.
Conclusion
Exposure to Substance 32-G is highly dangerous in large quantities. Continued use of filtration grafts should be effective against the worst effects, however despite the potential of weaponizing the substance, and the other lucrative opportunities in the area, we find permanent settlements near the Toxfall to be at high levels of risk. We especially recommend that further expeditions into the depths of the Gorge to be carried out with increased protective equipment - we shall be seeking a grant to develop such gear.

In Pfilghol, the report seems to have fallen on deaf membranes. The warrior caste sees great value in weaponizing this deadly toxin, while the merchants take note of the financial benefits they could gain by harvesting the native Rotweaver Worms.

Ydottl attends Thursday's workshop: Strategies for Leveraging your War Kraken to Obtain Additional Grant Funding. Given their upcoming plans to fund research into further protection against toxins, it seems a natural choice.
Roll: 11 (military and economy scores are the same, it doesn't matter)

[Lumaeus]

Spoiler: To Doctor Ydottl: Interest

Show

The Hierophant are immediately drawn to the practical, pesticidal implications of such a potent toxin.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. Your research is perhaps the most exciting of the otherwise dull work on display among the more far-flung races of the seas. These toxins of yours show great promise, especially when you consider their limited lethality in small doses. So long as a population can tolerate a fair amount of life lost by cross-contamination, there are no downsides. Let us know if we can further your work!

[Volthawk]

Spoiler: Attendees

Show

Normally, Pelir Hallus would be the one representing the Cyphiri Union in scientific exchanges such as thing - over the decades, the woman was a regular fixture in Cyphiri delegations who always looked for opportunities to expand the knowledge base of the Cyphiri. These days, though, she has all but officially stepped away from her work, and so in her place three Cyphiri arrive at OASIS, the three most likely to be her official successor.

Arnel Belar The potential successor closest politically to Pelir, and as such often seen as the frontrunner. His work primarily focuses around the idea of making novel organisms, albeit usually partially derived from existing species, in order to perform specialised roles for the Cyphiri - often quite small specimens, although an ongoing project of his is investigating how well networks for small specialised organisms working in unison can perform. He also makes sure to keep informed of all the discoveries made from the explorers of the world, whether from his own family, the Lux-Glossians or even further abroad, always excited to see if they find anything of scientific value.

Rala Pylet A little bit of an outsider in the politics of things, House Pylet often being seen as aloof and standoffish towards the Cyphiri of Cyph-Arel, but one who has earned her place among Pelir's favourites and shown her dedication towards the wider Union. She's particularly interested in the animals found across the seas, and the ways that they can be used, keeping in correspondence with the Tellan about the best ways to use their sea cows and often returning to her home in Pyl-Garat to arrange surveys of the region's vine forests and sampling the animal population there. Grafts are also an area that is increasingly taking her attention, althouh some say that this is mainly an attempt to gain Pelir's favour, given her work on the now-widespread modifications for surviving in brackish waters.

Neyran Ulnesh While the Hallus have always had the edge when it came to science, Ulnesh researchers were a strong source of competition. While these days, the focus of House Ulnesh has drifted away from their old stronghold of agriculture in favour of faith and diplomacy, Neyran still tries hard to keep her projects going and develop new agricultural practices, or anything that would maintain her family's dwindling economic advantage. It was enough to get Pelir's attention, anyway, and Neyran has kept working hard to prove her value to the wider scientific future of the Union. Some of her House's new focus on diplomacy and outreach has rubbed off on her, though, and she spends a lot of time adapting techniques learned from aboard, whether entirely new or just different styles of getting the same result, to the Cyphiri way of doing things.

Event 1

Utilisation of Hybrid Necrotic/Biological Engineering to Expand the Scope of Designed Megafauna

While the size and strength of biologically engineered creatures are constantly expanding, with many countries now capable of modifying or growing megafauna to perform tasks their earlier, smaller organisms could not, there are still limits to what is possible with our current technology. However, we also know that our limits are not hard ones, and going beyond them are possible, as seen in the Reefback leviathans of the Pojan, creatures such as the Trawling Beasts (if one believes that they were engineered), and - of particular interest to this paper - the large, rune-carved skeletons found in the wastes. While in life, most of these cases are outside of our control, whether by the will of their current owners, their own dangerous natures, or simple circumstance, but in death this may not be the case, as their corpses and skeletal structures can provide a useful framework for our own bioengineering projects, once-living tissues replaced with smaller specifically engineered organisms that can serve the function of vital biological systems.

It's somewhat well-known among the Cyphiri Union, and thus perhaps to their peers, that Arnel Belar (the writer of the paper) was fascinated by the discovery of huge rune-carved skeletons in the wastes, and has been a strong advocate for a mission sending out Wayfinder to secure a steady supply of the bones into Cyph-Arel. As such, while other cases are mentioned the vast majority of his work is focused around those skeletons, with no small amount of speculation on how the creatures may have looked in life (based off second-hand accounts of the bones and flavoured by the Cyphiri tendency towards wanting their stories to be interesting) and various designs for networked organisms to fulfill various purposes, Arnel's favourite seemingly to be some kind of big lumbering quadruped that abandons the need to swim to instead leverage raw size and strength and batter through any opposition (or more accurately the homes of said opposition).

Event 2
Rala Pylet takes on the task of contributing to the art project mapping the world, and her focus stays on her home of Pyl-Garat. As such, she spends most of her time drawing the vine forests of Pyl-Garat, the environments that make the region unique and where she spends much of her time exploring, hunting and bringing back live specimens for research.

Event 3
Workshop: Joined at the Hip: Effective Methods for Training New Graduate Students
Attribute Used: Diplomacy
Roll:

Neyran Ulnesh, always eager to expand her knowledge and learn new things from the wider world, eagerly applies to a workshop. She's a little disappointed in the limits imposed, but soon gets over it and makes a decision. Many of them seemed interesting, but given the current diminished state of her House's research teams, learning better ways of getting people trained and ready is very much of interest to Neyran, and if there's one thing the Cyphiri were good at it was passing on a lot of information and knowledge to other people.

[Lumaeus]

Spoiler: To Arnel Belar: Interest

Show

The Hierophant care little for the concert in which isolates relate to their environments, but they do care about the Titans, especially given the rumors of one appearing in their southern seas.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We are curious whether and when your research will turn up some of the failings of mega- or gigafauna and how we might encourage their doom. With your trawling beasts and the apparent incoming treachery of the Residuum, we fear direct action may soon need to be taken, and as the protectors of the Southern Seas, we would pay dearly for such techniques.

[mystic1110]

Actions are dictated by two things . . . chance and law. There are many types of laws, just as there are many types of chances. And we all have to deal with what is dealt. That is the nature of the game.

The laws in question, may seem arbitrary, but they were designed by the world - crafted by its Gods - for purposes of their own. It doesn't make sense to question the goals of the Gods. For one thing, they will hardly explain themselves to you. Laws are suffered.

Chance is also arbitrary by nature, but some have called it fair. Fairness isn't the correct term though. It is more correct to say the chance leers. Chance is not some anemic force of nature, it is nature made jerky - it is nature poking your eye. Fair is fair chance says.

And so - what happens is that the laws suffered and the chance endured proclaimed to the Shark People that they were to attend a conclave of study. But they don't merely attend events. They are supposed to crash them. And so . . .

Ten cephalopodic nomads on their shark steed swam into the seminar, knocking over presentations and generally causing a commotion. These weren't the fanatics of the God-Fish or the well-bred mysterious nomads, these were clearly teenagers - the worst of the worst. Their leader, a gangly looking octopus, with a birth defect of suckers on his face, riding an equally long whale shark, spoke in a voice that betrayed his puberty.

Look at all these delicious NERDS. Brains are a delicacy in the deep ocean - who here has the largest and tastiest brain!?

[Minescratcher]

Though the Ironkelp Order sent no official delegates, at least one group of Middish sages saw an opportunity to gain much-deserved fame outside Orope. Pure mathematics is not the most popular subject among the Order's sages, and the lead researcher, one Lombsmiddish Filippo Salviati, hoped that presenting his latest work (now with [a small amount of] real experimental data!) to a more appreciative foreign audience might help pressure the Knights to acknowledge its import. As such, he and a few other Middish made the journey to Leriander alone and by fin.

Abstract
A Novel Calculation for Improved Extramarine Re-Entry Prediction
The enhanced self-propulsive effects of the late King of Insol's R. arbor seedpod are well known, and the seedpod's ability to breach the vacuum of air and travel long distances unencumbered by drag renders the plant a vital tool for rapid long-distance communication via messenger as well as a strategic and tactical necessity for Middish warfare. However, although the seed's path through the vacuum has long been known to be best modeled by a parabolic arc determined by the relative angle of the seedpod to the celestial water-air interface, exact prediction of the location where the seed will re-enter is consistently and severely unreliable at scales below the hundreds of miles, introducing inefficient transit delays as the seedpod's passengers must often make their way to the intended destination by fin. We demonstrate that an improvement to the traditional mathematical model to fully take into account the effects of the drag differential between water and air and the slight change in extramarine travel angle introduced thereby allows for increases in prediction accuracy of up to two orders of magnitude (range 67 to 109 per cent), allowing for vast reductions in R. arbor seedpod travel time.



Workshop
Attending Basics of Fieldwork in Lethal Conditions: 11

[Lumaeus]

Spoiler: To Suckerface McPimple: Appreciative Nods

Show

The Hierophant, objectively in possession of the smallest brains at the Symposium, feel no fear at the entrance of the nomads, and (due to Riftling tolerance for the unbearable) indeed feel none of the revulsion appropriate to a sighting of teenagers of any race. These small salvations allow them to see clearly that the blighted adolescent speaks true.

The Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery nod appreciatively.

Spoiler: To Filippo Salviati: Total Disinterest

Show

Consider the Riftlings of the Dead Seas, how they swarm; they integrate not, neither do they derive: And yet I say unto you, that even Mammos in all her avarice was not so rich like one of these. The Hierophant seek out Salviati.

We, the Hierophant of the Riftlings Many, Augur of the Divine Mysteries and Low Inquisitor Against Technological Treachery bring word from the Old Fathers, by the Youngest, in the name of the Great Mother. We looked first in judgment at your work; though plainly it was not the treachery which we come here to denounce, neither was it of use to any creature, living or isolate. But then we recalled your tragic limitations. Your brief shout of life is not long enough, your simple isolated mind is not wise enough, your halfgrain of experience is not vast enough that you might simply by knowing predict the motions of the seas and the many mutable laws of this life-blighted globe. And so your work, though below us, is inoffensive, and we offer you whichever platitude of encouragement best demonstrates our diplomatic openness.

[Kythia]

Look at all these delicious NERDS. Brains are a delicacy in the deep ocean - who here has the largest and tastiest brain!?

Apparently - the details might be wrong as he hadn't been particularly listening - someone had trained dogfish to salivate when they saw a bellfish. Or something. Someone had been going on about it, about how it was an automatic reaction with no conscious thought. A better example would be the instinctive Magamarachi response to anyone asking anything about who the largest is. He was already booming before they finished and may well not have heard the final bit.

"REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE HAS THE LARGEST BRAIN EVER! EVERYTHING ABOUT REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE IS THE LARGEST! AND ONLY GETTING LARGER! REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE'S BRAIN LARGER THAN EVERYTHING IN THIS ROOM! PUT TOGETHER! INCLUDING REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE'S BRAIN! DOESN'T NEED TO MAKE SENSE, THAT'S HOW LARGE IT IS!"

[mystic1110]

Apparently - the details might be wrong as he hadn't been particularly listening - someone had trained dogfish to salivate when they saw a bellfish. Or something. Someone had been going on about it, about how it was an automatic reaction with no conscious thought. A better example would be the instinctive Magamarachi response to anyone asking anything about who the largest is. He was already booming before they finished and may well not have heard the final bit.

"REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE HAS THE LARGEST BRAIN EVER! EVERYTHING ABOUT REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE IS THE LARGEST! AND ONLY GETTING LARGER! REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE'S BRAIN LARGER THAN EVERYTHING IN THIS ROOM! PUT TOGETHER! INCLUDING REALLY-FREAKING-LARGE'S BRAIN! DOESN'T NEED TO MAKE SENSE, THAT'S HOW LARGE IT IS!"

Teenagers don't ask permission, they do not request that someone steps forth as tribute, nor do they thank a sacrifice. There is no grace, piety or, worst of all, politeness, in youth. They see a meal, they eat a meal, don't stop to think how that meal got there, who prepared it, how much time and effort went into it. They don't even offer to clean the table afterwards.

Which is to say, that they saw a meal, a Really-****ing-Large meal, and went after it like an allowance on a bad idea. There is no need to describe what a shark feeding frenzy is like. They consist of all sorts of adjectives for gruesome. They are a red turmoil of nonsense and death. Some of the sharks bit some of the other sharks, because the young ones here chew with their mouths open and have difficulties paying attention. Blood, blood and more blood. How many times does some one need to say the color red for people to get the gist and look away. It's not nice to stare when someone's eating.

After a short period, the meal was done and the Magamarachi was half devoured. At least his head was shorn clean to the glistening white bone. There was a good chuck of the lower half left - teenagers who aren't starving usually waste food after all. This despite that they are growing boys who need to eat more - but perhaps that bit of motherly advice is not appropriate when the meal was a sentient compassionate person.

Really-****ing-Large will be missed, the Teenagers grinning and smacking their lips won't be. They sarcastically, as if their kind knew any other tone, thanks the 'Damn NERDS' and swam out from the conference.

[Kythia]

Teenagers don't ask permission, they do not request that someone steps forth as tribute, nor do they thank a sacrifice. There is no grace, piety or, worst of all, politeness, in youth. They see a meal, they eat a meal, don't stop to think how that meal got there, who prepared it, how much time and effort went into it. They don't even offer to clean the table afterwards.

Which is to say, that they saw a meal, a Really-****ing-Large meal, and went after it like an allowance on a bad idea. There is no need to describe what a shark feeding frenzy is like. They consist of all sorts of adjectives for gruesome. They are a red turmoil of nonsense and death. Some of the sharks bit some of the other sharks, because the young ones here chew with their mouths open and have difficulties paying attention. Blood, blood and more blood. How many times does some one need to say the color red for people to get the gist and look away. It's not nice to stare when someone's eating.

After a short period, the meal was done and the Magamarachi was half devoured. At least his head was shorn clean to the glistening white bone. There was a good chuck of the lower half left - teenagers who aren't starving usually waste food after all. This despite that they are growing boys who need to eat more - but perhaps that bit of motherly advice is not appropriate when the meal was a sentient compassionate person.

Really-****ing-Large will be missed, the Teenagers grinning and smacking their lips won't be. They sarcastically, as if their kind knew any other tone, thanks the 'Damn NERDS' and swam out from the conference.

And then it was over. Horrified nerds stared for a moment with mouths agape until bits of Really-Freaking-Large floated into them and they spat violently and closed them. Ironically, Magaramchi brains are near their stomachs and so the paradoxically large brain that had started all of this was only partially eaten. Severed of the connections to the rest of the body, though, it floated out of the corpse and landed with a soft squelch in the centre of the rapidly dissipating clouds of red, Magaramachi brains being literally as well as figuratively quite dense.

"Should we..." began one one nerd at the same time as another began to ask "What just..." Both are interrupted by a third who begins vomiting. There's a louder, more sickening, squelch as something falls out of the partially eaten stomach and lands on the brain, sending particles of it out in a cloud and nerds scrambling to avoid them. There, perfectly centred on the crushed really-freaking-large brain was a piece of granite.

Let it be recorded in the annals of, you know, science stuff that Really-Freaking-Large did indeed eat that rock.

[Lumaeus]

The Hierophant, otherwise impassive and unperturbed, politely ask the nearest Lux-Glossian authority whether they should invite the Kiwa to clean up the remains of the body.

[Aerin]

I don't have time to fluff this right now, but I wanted to post the scores so that we can start getting rewards sorted out. Thanks to everyone that participated!

Here is the Google Sheet with detailed results.

ESP - 1st pick
SEN - 2nd pick
CYP - 3rd pick
LSD - 4th pick